Future Tense
by LeDiz
Summary: There was a finish, but no end, because the point was the life just went on. But maybe that wasn't enough, because now it's five years on, and things have got to change.
1. Chapter 1

_There was a 'Fin', but no 'owari'. A finish, but no end. Yugioh was over, but there was no happy ending for Yuugi and the others, because the point was that life went on. But sometimes life just 'going on' isn't enough, and change is always inevitable. Which then brings us to the—_

**Future Tense – Chapter One**

**DISCLAIMER**: A priest, a rabbi and a Irishman all walked into a bar, sat down, ordered drinks, and began talking. The bartender said, "What is this, a joke?"

* * *

The Gateway internet café was not a place people went to check their email. 

In all honesty, the Gateway internet café's computers were as useless and pointless as an ice-maker in the Antarctic. No one ever used them for anything more than the inner-café chatroom, and that was only so the customers could introduce themselves to each other before going over to spend the rest of their time flirting.

The truth was a time honoured tradition of secrecy, started when the general management realised how pathetically slow their hardrives were. It took them several months to realise why they had yet to go out of business.

"Give me a Rabbit Roll'em," groaned a familiar voice, and deep chocolate eyes looked up from their current duty of overseeing the creation of three other kinds of alcoholic milkshake.

Ryou smiled, flicking the silvery strands of his hair away from his face before going back to the drinks. "Yuugi! Long time no see!"

"Yeah, I've been visiting Anzu," he said wearily, gazing around the café from under half-open eyelids. "But I've been back for two days and have yet to go home and sleep in my own bed. My eyes're only open out of spite."

"Spite for who?"

"I refuse to fall asleep anywhere but the confines of my rubble. And besides, I'm still on New York time. I should be having lunch right now," he added, and his head collapsed into his arms. Ryou smiled sympathetically, but said nothing as he went about making Yuugi's favourite caffeine laden, vodka-choked, very bad for your health drink. Like most of Domino city, Yuugi had become addicted to the Gateway's infamous milkshakes a long time ago, though he never came for the drink itself, so much as to see his friend. It had just been a nice bonus that Ryou had started working at the café over the last year. Almost a minute passed, and Ryou set the drink down in front of him, causing Yuugi's head to rise from its makeshift pillow. He gazed at him thoughtfully, slowly uncurling himself from his huddle. "It's your birthday soon."

"Uh huh. Twenty-two," he agreed, leaning back against the other side of the bar. "I don't really like the sound of the age… Sounds like something from a ninja film, doesn't it?"

Yuugi chuckled. "So I suppose you wouldn't appreciate a pair of decorative nunchucks?"

"Funnily enough… no."

"Anything you do want? Aside from money and-slash-or gift certificates?"

Ryou hesitated, before an embarrassed grin flashed onto his face. "I can think of something… but you wouldn't be able to get it for me."

"Hey, Ryou, come on. I work for the Kaiba brothers, I can get anything," he said playfully. "So name your impossible gift, and I'll have it to you by next Saturday."

He blushed, then pointed at something behind his friend. "If you can get me that, you'll never have to buy me another present for as long as you live."

"What, a car or something?" he asked, turning around. He couldn't see anything that spectacular, aside from the flashing sign across the street that advertised the wrong kind of coke in a very subtle way. He blinked at the window, rolling his wrist in question. "I don't see anything. Unless you're into drugs all of a sudden, there's nothing out there that –"

"Not out there. In here. Over there," he said quietly, and Yuugi glanced back at him in time to catch his nod toward a booth beside the window. It contained only two people: a tall, muscle bound, pale blue haired man with a nasty glint to his icy blue eyes, and a vaguely long-limbed, wiry man with dark, bicoloured hair. His eyes were sharp, though that could have just been because of the way he was glaring at his friend. They looked like they were arguing about something and trying not to be heard. They weren't drinking, either.

"Out of towners." Yuugi surmised, reaching back for his drink. "Which one were you looking at?"

"The good looking guy."

"They're both okay," he said vaguely, tilting his head to better appraise the slimmer man. There was something kind of familiar about the way he was sitting in the booth. It was completely relaxed while still being painfully… regal, for want of a better word.

"The really good looking guy. The god. The Atlas!"

Yuugi smirked, turning back to him. "Atlas?"

"He's just amazing," Ryou said wistfully, a quiet sigh escaping his lips. "I didn't know men like him really existed."

"Since when do you even care?" he asked. "I thought you said you weren't going near either sex until you knew which you wanted for sure."

"I'll make up my mind for him," he said bluntly, and Yuugi smiled, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling. If not for his aforementioned age, he would have called it a prime example of high school love. But it was typical of Ryou. Since 'the Millenium phase' (as Yuugi called it), the almost-albino had been in more 'instant relationships' than the rest of their friends combined – not that it was saying much, but it was still worth noting. And every single one started out as an infatuation with a Greek god, western fairytale, or legendary demon.

"So why haven't you gone to talk to our muscle-bound moron, yet?" asked Yuugi, casually leaning on his palm. "You've got a perfect opening, working here. Just tell him about your famous milkshakes. Introduce him to the wonders of a Leviathan or something."

"Me? Talk to him? No way!"

"Remind me… when did we leave high school, and how long have you been a girl?"

"Yuugi! This is serious!" he whined, and Yuugi chuckled at his tone. "He's really good looking, I wouldn't have a chance… I bet you he likes girls, anyway."

Yuugi's smirk turned nasty, but Ryou cut him off with a glare. "I am not pitching my voice any higher, thank you."

"But it did work last time…"

"That was a dare from Honda-kun! Never again!"

"Mmhm…"

They fell silent for a moment, and Yuugi checked over his shoulder again, an amused smirk playing on his lips. "I don't know, Ryou. You can never tell who likes what these days. Look at Seto."

"Look at you, more like it," he added tartly, and Yuugi laughed. "If you're so sure about it, go and check it out then."

"I have enough twisted relationships as it is, thank you," he replied calmly, picking up his drink again. "Besides, muscle-bound men are not in my personal taste, so I'll leave it to you."

Ryou's gaze remained over his friend's head, and he picked up a glass to absently polish. Yuugi made a face at the cliché gesture, but he just shrugged, looking back at him. "What's wrong with him? Or are you just so self-obsessed that you think you'd end up stealing him away from me?"

"Hardly. As I said, I have enough relationship problems without adding someone my friend has a thing for," he said dryly. "And I don't like… him. If—and it's a very small if—I wanted to pick up either of the two, I'd go for the stringbean, not Sir Stronghold."

"Would you really?" asked a sly voice, and Yuugi's eyes widened, looking off to the side as a figure slid onto the stool beside him. The slimmer man from the window booth was smirking at him, crimson eyes sparkling in amusement as he settled his chin on the back of his finely tanned hand. Yuugi leaned back slightly, and the man flashed a line of white teeth. "Now that's an insult I'd like to hear to my face."

Yuugi blushed, before shooting Ryou a glare. "You couldn't have told me?"

"You remind me of Honda-kun's little joke, I get to see you squirm," he replied happily, and Yuugi tsked. He should have known Ryou to hold a grudge.

He took a deep breath, bracing his hands on the bar as he turned to the stranger. "I said _if _I wanted to. I'm afraid that doesn't imply what the rest of sentence does."

"I'm sure it doesn't," he said playfully, still smirking in a satisfied, cat-ate-the-canary way. It was the same smile Seto had when he had some very nice blackmail, or a reason to get his way in a bad situation. Seto could always make Yuugi fidget with that smile, and on this man it even resulted in an embarrassing blush. But he didn't follow through with it, merely turning to Ryou, dirty blond forelocks swinging with the movement. "We need another hour online."

"Four hundred and fifteen," he said brightly, setting his glass and rag down beside the till. He tapped the command into the computer as the man searched his jacket pockets. "Could I maybe interest you in some drinks while you're working?"

"No, thanks. Knowing the price of your internet connection, I think I would be scared to see the drink rate," he said wearily, picking out the coins. "No offence meant, but you're lucky you're the only net café around here, or you'd be out of business."

Yuugi snorted into his drink. Ryou glared at him quickly as he accepted the money. "Actually, very few people come in here for our internet," he replied calmly. "Most come –"

"For Ryou, you know. The girls like the eyes," Yuugi whispered conspiratorily, leaning over as if in confidence. "The guys like the fact he's too girly to go out with the girls."

"Yuugi!"

He chuckled, but the man had suddenly stopped smiling, going stiff as he looked from one to the other. He blinked several times, his gaze snapping to Ryou's eyes, and then back over the chin-length silver-purple hair. "Um… this uh…" He coughed, turning back to Yuugi. "This might sound forward, but um… which high school did you go to?"

They paused, exchanging curious glances before looking at him again. "Domino High."

"That so…?" He took a slow breath, straightening a little. "And um… how long ago did you _leave _high school?"

Yuugi frowned, looking at Ryou warily. "Four years," he said slowly. "Why?"

"I just… I had a cousin that went to Domino High, and uh…" He blinked at Yuugi rapidly, his brow furrowing. "He said there were two guys in his year that… one's name was Yuugi and…"

"Well… I'm Yuugi Mutou, does that help?" he asked, but the man just seemed to lose the strength in his legs, because both feet slipped off the barstool.

"Mu… Yuugi Mutou… as in… did you ever play Duel Monsters?"

Yuugi's eyes darkened ever so slightly, his smile turning a little frostier. "A long time ago. Not anymore. Why?"

"He… he just said… why'd you stop?"

"Does it matter?" he asked darkly, and the man shook his head, seeming to recover some of his poise.

"No. No, my cousin was a fan, and he's interested," he said quickly, looking him over with a subtle glance. Yuugi Mutou definitely didn't match the publicity posters plastered on the windows of the game and hobby shops he'd passed on his way into town. The trademark dark red and gold hair was now cropped and gelled down around his neck, dyed a deep, unassuming black. His eyes didn't sparkle, and the lids were lowered as if he was tired, accentuated by the square-framed glasses perched in front of them. He was also dressed in simple loose jeans, long sleeved red shirt and black blazer, the exact opposite of the publicity's eye-catching leather ensemble. He didn't look a thing like he was supposed to.

The man eventually turned his head away again, thoughtlessly tapping the bar. "Well. My cousin will be glad to know you're alive and well…"

"Who is your cousin?" asked Ryou, and the man's eyes flicked back to him.

"Um… _Myouji_…n. Gegari Myoujin," he said. "He was in class G."

"Class G," said Yuugi thoughtfully, frowning. "We never talked to them much. Sorry, I don't remember him."

"Oh, no, wouldn't expect you to. He was arrogant and didn't talk to anyone back then…" He hesitated, before holding his hand out in offering. "Call me Yami… Yami Myoujin."

Yuugi's head tilted at the name, but he quickly decided that people in glass houses shouldn't question people with weird names. He smiled, taking his hand. "You can call me Yuugi, and this is Ryou Bakura."

"Yuugi," he repeated, almost breathlessly. "Right."

"It's just Ryou these days," said Ryou, smiling. "Now about those drinks. They're actually cheaper than the internet connection, and they're what people come here for. You want some?"

"Oh, um… sure. Why not," he said vaguely, his gaze flying in every direction before he held up a finger. "I'll be right back… just gotta check something with… my friend's name is Bakura too, how about that? I'll just… check with him… bye."

Yuugi and Ryou both stared after him as he practically fled back to the booth. He violently whispered at his friend, whose eyes widened and shot around to look at the pair at the bar. The pair quickly began another whispered argument, and Yuugi turned back to Ryou, raising his eyebrow.

"Weird."

"Very."

"I could get to like him."

"I could get to love his friend."

Yuugi shook his head, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling for reason.

* * *

"Kaiba Corporation?" 

"Mm. It's not a bad job, and it pays really well, but I just don't have the time for a life because of it. It's a miracle I got off so early today."

"What time was that?"

"Six. Usually I'm at the office until eight or nine."

"Ouch."

"No, I like it. When I'm working, I don't have to be anyone but an employee. And talk about the compliments you get for it."

"What do you mean?"

Yuugi smiled at him, and Yami's curious gaze melted down into a gentle look. With Ryou and Yami's friend Bakura they had spent the entire evening talking over milkshakes. At nine, Ryou had gotten off work, and Yami had invited Yuugi into showing him around the area. He didn't really know Domino, he explained, and therefore didn't know where he was meant to be going from one day to the next. Yuugi's opinion of Yami being 'weird' hadn't changed in the slightest, but he found him just as interesting. Not to mention the strange fact that he felt undeniably comfortable with him, which he hadn't been with anyone for years. There was just something about Yami that made him want to relax.

"Part of my job for Kaiba Corporation is that I go with one brother or the other and talk to the business associates. According to the Kaibas, I'm just so cute that I make people see it our way and end up getting the best deal," he said, chuckling. "All I have to do is have lots of guarana and caffeine, maybe a bit of sex, and I'm suddenly so beautiful that no one can resist me."

Yami's laughter quickly died, his head jerking around to look at him. "Sex?"

"Yeah… kinda gives everyone this healthy glow," he said, smirking playfully. "Not to mention the content smile."

"You… You have someone to do that for you?" he asked haltingly, his smile suddenly cold enough to crack. "At work?"

Yuugi didn't see the look, his eyes fixed on the moon, blushing bright red. But his grin spoke volumes, and Yami turned back to the path ahead, his hands punching into his pockets so Yuugi wouldn't see his twisting fists.

"Yeah, it's weird, but that's not the only part of my job," continued Yuugi. "I have to hang out in arcades, pretending to be a teenager so I can find out what they think of Kaiba products; talk to the people that want to sue us, so they won't; act as a go-between for Seto Kaiba and the lower personel; check out the online fanbase; and sometimes I even have to check over paperwork figures and such. It's simple work, but it takes a lot of time."

"Right."

"Um… sorry, but are you okay?"

Yami blinked, looking around at him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You look like you're gonna punch something."

He blinked again, his shoulders relaxing under Yuugi's concerned gaze. He smiled guiltily, shaking his head. "Just remembered something I forgot to tell someone before I last left Domino."

"Anything important?" he asked, pointing toward a corner that they had to start toward.

"Yeah… forgot to tell this guy to keep his hands off my things," he muttered, but shrugged off Yuugi's confusion with a wave. "It's okay. Nothing I can't get back with a little effort."

"That's good. It would be terrible to lose something so important that you'd get that worked up," he said, sympathetically relieved. "So what is it you do, Yami? You're not a spy for another gaming company that's only talking to me for Kaiba Corp.'s secrets, are you?"

He laughed, shaking his head. "No, no… Nothing that great. I work at the museum… tour guide. I'm also trying to figure out everything that happened from about a thousand BC to two thousand AD. Maybe write a book… call it A Three Thousand Year Story."

"Three thousand?" he repeated. "Why three thousand years?"

"Because I've had enough of the ancient world, and my knowledge of it stops at a thousand BC."

"Oh, man, do I know what you mean about that," he laughed, his hand absently rising to take hold of Yami's wrist. "These days, I can't hear a word of Ancient Egypt without wanting to tear out the other person's throat."

Yami laughed weakly, trailing off into an uncomfortable cough. "Well, that's… pretty much all I know best…"

"So have you got a grant to research?"

"Uh… not really. That's why I'm working at the museum, starting tomorrow. Doing tours of the Ancient Egypt exhibit… you know, boring stuff that gives you a paycheck?" He nodded, pushing his hands back into his jacket. "That's why I'm thinking of getting back into gaming. I was a damn good player. I hear you can get good money doing that."

"If you enter the right tournaments, yeah. Don't go for the glory, go for the cash. Stay as far away from Kaiba Corporation as possible," he added. "Winning something from us is prestigious, but not so good for the wallet."

Yami smiled, and they fell into silence for a few minutes. Eventually, Yuugi realised Yami was still smiling at him and frowned, leaning away slightly. "What?"

"Nothing… I was just thinking that I really enjoyed talking to you tonight."

Yuugi blushed, smiling as he looked away. "Well… Ryou wanted to talk to your friend, and that left us alone."

"So it didn't have anything to do with you preferring to pick me up, rather than Bakura?" he teased, and Yuugi laughed.

"Unfortunately, no. I'm not looking for a guy right now."

He tilted his head as they came to a stop, simultaneously turning toward each other, barely even realising they were outside the block of flats Yami had said he was staying in. He smiled. "You're not looking for a guy, or you're just not looking right now?"

"Why do you ask?" he asked coyly, and Yami's cheeks tinted slightly darker.

"Just out of interest. I've been talking to you all night and we never broached the subject of that little comment you made to Ryou."

"Well, it's a bit of both," he said vaguely, folding his arms over his stomach. "I like girls, most of the time. And I'm pretty seriously involved with someone. As well as my work, of course."

"Two-timer," he teased, and Yuugi bowed in agreement. Yami nodded, glancing up at the moon. "I have to admit, the only person I've ever really cared about has not been of the female variety… but I wasn't suggesting anything. I was just thinking that I really did like talking to you. And I'd really like to do it again sometime soon."

"Me too. You're… Me too," he said finally, holding out a hand. "Well, not to say I go by there a lot, but maybe I'll see you around the Gateway sometime."

"I hope so," he whispered, taking the offered hand and squeezing it gently.

Yuugi's smile dropped slightly at the hold; something familiar about it stirring his memory. He untangled his hand and stepped away, raising it in farewell instead. "See you, Yami."

"Yeah. G'bye…" he added, as Yuugi began walking off into the orange darkness of the street. He waited until the shorter man had turned the corner before letting his hand drop, "… aibou."

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Future Tense – Chapter Two**

**DISCLAIMER**: You know what I need? I need a producer. And a director. And probably a couple of VOAs. And a time slot on TV. Then I'd be ecstatically happy, don't you think?

* * *

"Ryou! I need a Tsunami!"

The café manager looked up, blinking in surprise and amusement as a lanky blond dressed in a rumpled casino uniform wandered up to the bar. "Jounouchi-kun! Welcome back!"

"At least someone noticed," he grumbled, climbing up onto the stool beside Yami, who was staring at him blankly. "I am such a latchkey kid."

"How was your trip?" he asked, disappearing under the bar for the rarely used soda fridge.

"It was okay. We had some kind of group on board, and they were complete gambling addicts. I didn't get a single night off with Mai."

Ryou smiled, opening a bottle of coke and turning back to Yami and Bakura. Over the past three days, they had become regulars at the café, though tonight was the first time since they'd met that Ryou had seen Yami look interested in anything but the door. "Guys, this is a friend of mine, Katsuya Jounouchi. He works in a cruise ship casino," he explained. "Jounouchi-kun, these are some new customers: Yami Myoujin and Bakura… what did you say your given name was?"

Yami shot Bakura a warning look, but he just saluted Jounouchi with his glass of scotch. "Don't have a given name. It's just Bakura."

"Good to meet you," he greeted blandly, turning back to Ryou. "I can't believe this. First Mai ditches me, now I've been stood up. I feel like crap."

"It's not his fault. You know what work's like."

"Yeah, yeah…" He sighed, watching the familiar motions of Ryou creating his favoured drink. He rarely drank alcohol anymore, much preferring the spider-like taste of Ryou's 'Tsunami' – coke, ice cream and guarana mixed with a few ingredients that lived in nameless bottles Ryou wouldn't define. He slapped a few coins down on the bar and took his drink with a depressed sigh. "But he promised he'd be home to welcome me back. I can't get into the rubble without him."

"Don't you have keys?"

"Nope. Safety thing, y'know? Leave 'em at home so I don't accidentally lose them overboard like last time."

Ryou nodded, glancing over at a group of customers that were waving from the other end of the bar. "I can help. Just give me a minute."

He waved him off with one hand, the other holding up his drink to sip at. After a moment, he realised Yami and Bakura were watching him and paused, frowning apprehensively. "So… Myoujin, huh?"

Yami blinked once. "What?"

"Your name. Myoujin, was it?"

"Oh! Uh… yeah," he said, smiling weakly. "It's just Yami, usually."

"Right… so uh… you guys know Ryou, huh?"

"Well, aside from his highness' work, we ain't got anywhere better to be," said Bakura, lazily, only to scowl when Yami punched his arm.

"His highness?" repeated Jounouchi, but Yami just turned up the charm a few volts with a broad smile.

"Stupid name calling thing. Ignore him, he's just a… a… idiot."

"That's thief, actually," interjected Bakura, and Jounouchi raised an eyebrow while Yami punched him again. Bakura just smirked. "Getting a little violent there… what would your king- ?"

"Excuse us a second," said Yami, snatching Bakura's collar and dragging him off the stool. He pulled him to an empty booth and growled at him for a few minutes, too quietly for Jounouchi to hear.

"Ne, Jounouchi-kun," called Ryou, and he looked around in time to catch a handful of jangling metal.

Jounouchi blinked, looking down at the collection of keys. "What's this?"

"Yuugi came by this morning to give them to me. I didn't get why, but maybe he had a feeling he'd be late and you'd be stranded," he explained. "Where's Bakura-san?"

"He was being really weird, and that… Myoujin guy dragged him off," he said, and they both looked around at the booth. It looked like Bakura was finally losing patience while Yami seemed to have regained his. Jounouchi frowned, glancing back at Ryou. "What d'you think of them?"

"Bakura-san is wonderful," he said, and Jounouchi groaned at the wistful tone of his voice. "He's a little smug, and he tends to order, not ask, but it's all just so –"

"Uh huh, and what about Myoujin?"

"Yami-kun?" he asked, blinking himself out of his daze. "He's… okay. A little distant, and he gets angry pretty easily, but only at Bakura-san. He's usually really distracted, just staring at the door. I think he keeps waiting for Yuugi to come in."

"Why?"

"He met him on the first night, and they really hit it off. I kind of think that's the reason he keeps coming back," he confided, smiling. "He kept asking about Yuugi the next night, and he hasn't spoken much since then."

"You think he likes him?"

He nodded, but kept silent as Yami and Bakura returned to the bar, not looking at each other. Bakura climbed back onto his stool, but Yami just picked up his coffee and drained it. "Thanks, Ryou," he said, shoving a handful of notes at him. "But I've gotta go."

"Oh? So soon? It's only seven thirty…"

"I want to check out this old shop I used to go by all the time," he said, before glaring at Bakura. "I'll know, and you'll pay," he growled, before turning on his heel and heading out the door. Bakura just scoffed, his eyes on his scotch.

They waited for the door to shut behind Yami before Ryou turned to Bakura. "What was all that about, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Nothing," he said roughly. "His highness is just pissed off because his life isn't working."

Jounouchi frowned, glancing back at the door. "Huh?"

"Nothing," he repeated, sitting up with a confident smirk. "It can't last too long, anyway. He's too arrogant to keep it up for too long."

* * *

Uno road was just like he remembered it.

The stores were all still open, still bright and inviting despite the cooling night air. None of them were exactly thriving, with only a few dozen people walking up and down the street, but he knew that they would all do well enough to get along on a moderate budget. Like its citizens, the street seemed young despite its age, filled with greenery all the shop keepers came together to keep up.

Yami let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and closed his eyes, smiling at the atmosphere. His next breath was relaxed, and he could feel his muscles easing even as he walked.

"—ap, crap, crap, crap," came a voice suddenly, and Yami blinked, looking around with a start as a small figure dashed past him.

He stared after it blankly for a moment, not recognising the black hair, before reality caught up with his relaxed senses and he cried out. "Aibou!"

The figure immediately tripped, and Yami cringed as it crashed face first into the pavement. He bit his lip, reminding himself that was a forbidden word right now, and trotted over to join the couple who had stopped to make sure Yuugi was alright.

He was groaning, and there was a small scrape on his jaw, but he was waving the couple away with an embarrassed laugh. "Fine, fine! Just didn't see that crack. I'm okay, really, thanks!"

"Yuugi?" asked Yami, bending over to look down at him, arranging his features into polite curiosity. "Yuugi Mutou, right?"

Yuugi adjusted his glasses and rubbed his forehead before looking up at him, his smile fading apprehensively. "Yeah…"

"It's Yami. From the Gateway café? We met a few days ago?"

Yuugi continued to stare at him for a moment, then got to his feet. "Yeah. I remember," he said slowly. He looked him up and down, then turned back to the couple, failing to hide a violent wince as he bowed. "Thanks again. I'm fine, really. Sorry to trouble you. Sorry. Thanks."

They hesitated, then said their goodbyes and moved on. Yami continued to smile even when Yuugi turned back, his own smile somewhat frosty. "Are you okay? Why'd you trip?"

He didn't answer at first, just looked him over again before turning to walk down the street, holding his thigh in badly disguised pain. He knew Yami would follow. "I thought I heard something. But it was nothing. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, well, if I'm going to get back into gaming, I'm going to need some good playing cards. I heard there was a great game shop around here."

"You want the Black Crown," he said, jerking his thumb to the left. "It's two streets over."

"Black… Crown?" he repeated. "Oh… I heard there was one on Uno Road… Kame?"

"That's been closed for a while," he said, his tone light and patronising.

He decided to ignore the attitude until Yuugi knew him well enough to explain why he was acting like this, and kept up his polite smile. "Oh? Why?"

"Well," he said, still in that same tone, "why don't you see for yourself, since you came all this way for _cards_?"

Yami hesitated, recognising a threat when he heard one, but Yuugi didn't stop until they reached where the Kame Game Shop had once stood, and Yami almost facefaulted in shock. In its place was a cracking yellow building surrounded by half-finished concrete walls. He smiled at Yami, his expression coldly bright. "See, I'd love to sell you playing cards, but my store and house are currently heaps of rubble, and have been for the last three years. So next time you want to make a really poor excuse, please do your research, won't you?"

Yami blinked, and Yuugi shook his head at him before painfully climbing through a gap in the grey brick wall. Yami flinched, jumping forward. "Yuugi, wait!" he cried, leaning through the gap. It would clearly be a door, eventually, but right now it was half filled with loose bits of rock. Yuugi, on the other hand, was unlocking the original door to the game shop, propping himself up on the wall. Yami cringed, scrambling through the gap. "Yuugi – Yuugi, hold on, what are you talking about?"

"Oh please," he said irritably, glaring at him over his shoulder. "Playing cards? What do you think I am, stupid? If you want playing cards, you go to the supermarket and buy three packs for two hundred yen. You don't ask around and have someone randomly tell you to go to a store that hasn't been in business for three freaking years."

Yami opened his mouth to reply, but instead of the incredibly witty and intelligent retort he had planned, all he managed was a quiet "Oh."

"What do you want?" he asked, and Yami smiled weakly.

"Uh… well… to be honest, I knew this place before, when I was last in Domino, but I didn't know the shop had closed…" he said. "Last time it was here, it was… well… open. I thought it would be a good excuse…"

"Oh, really," he said, smiling wryly. "And what was your excuse for?"

"To… to see you?" It was more of a question than a statement, and Yuugi let out what may have been a scoff if he had not just eaten pavement. Yami jumped to correct himself. "It's just that Bakura and I have been at the Gateway every night, and you never came back, so… I knew I had to find you somehow. I heard that Yuugi Mutou lived in the Kame Game Shop and…"

Yuugi gazed at him for several more seconds, annoyed, before rolling his eyes and turning back to the door. "You watch way too many movies. Goodbye, random café visitor. I am going inside now and never seeing you again."

"Yuugi!" he cried, leaping forward. He slammed his hand into the door, forcing it closed so Yuugi couldn't get inside and away. The smaller man wrenched his keys from the door and backed up, frowning apprehensively as Yami shifted to stand in front of it. "Yuugi, I just… why are you so suspicious? It's not like I've done anything dangerous."

"Well, what you're doing now isn't exactly relaxing me," he said, and Yami's eyes widened as he realised Yuugi was rearranging his keys in his fist, so they stuck out between his fingers in what would be a painful threat.

"I meant before that. You were okay the other night; we talked! I… I just want to repeat the experience," he said, and spread his hands, showing he wasn't going to try anything. "I had this idea that I would come and talk to your grandfather, you know, endear him to me so when you came home he'd suggest you talked to me, and…"

Yuugi glared at him for a few more moments, before he sighed, letting his fist fall. "Like I said: way too many movies. That doesn't work in reality, you know."

"Well… maybe it should," he said, smiling hopefully. "I'm not a psychopath, I just… like you. I'd like us to get to know each other, you know?"

"From what you've been saying, you know me pretty well already," he said darkly. "No offence, but you really are creeping me out."

"Why?"

"You called me aibou."

He stiffened, staring at him warily. "I did?"

"Yeah. You did."

He swallowed, trying to pull his smile back onto his face. "I… I don't remember –"

"It wasn't even five minutes ago."

"Are you sure it was me? I swear I didn't. Didn't even notice you until you fell," he said quickly, nervously. "Strange word, really. Don't think I've ever heard anyone say it outside of TV before!"

Yuugi didn't answer at first, just gazing at him appraisingly. Neither of them moved for almost a minute, until Yuugi finally let out a long breath, his hand rising to smooth back his gelled hair. "Sorry… you're right, I'm probably hearing things," he said, his hand pausing to hold the back of his neck. "Just you remind of this… this guy I used to know. Brought back a lot of bad memories."

"B- Bad memories?" he repeated, tilting his head.

"Yeah… don't mean to take it out on you, I just…" He trailed off, looking around nervously. "Anyway… I'm supposed to be meeting a friend, so –"

"Jounouchi?"

Yuugi immediately glared at him again, suspicious, but he was ready this time with a smile.

"Blond guy, right? Yeah, he was at the Gateway. Said something about being a latchkey kid, and Ryou gave him a bunch of keys."

Yuugi blinked, then smiled, shaking his head at himself. "Imagining things…" he muttered, before looking up at Yami. "So if you knew Jounouchi needed keys, why did you come looking here for me?"

"Like I said, I thought I'd talk to… wait a minute…" He frowned. "Don't you live with your mother and grandfather? Wouldn't they have let him in?"

"Wow… you really do need to update your research," he said, smiling wryly. "My mother lives with my father in France. My grandfather died three and half years ago."

Yami stiffened again, eyes wide. "What…?"

"Mm. Some stupid disease he got in Egypt," he said, waving it off as if it didn't matter.

But Yami wasn't listening. He continued staring at Yuugi blankly, and finally fell back against the door. "Sugoroku… Grandfather Sugoroku died…?"

Yuugi frowned. "You okay?"

"They didn't tell me…" he breathed. "They said everyone was fine…"

"Did… did you know Grandpa?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah… Not as well as people thought but…"

"Oh. Oh, oh… crap… Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't think you would…" He bit his lip, his hands raised in a sympathetic gesture as he stepped forward. "You knew him and no one told you?"

Yami covered his mouth with his fist, then raised it up to his eyes. "Really is… Bad day… bad, bad day…"

"Ooh… Are you okay?"

"I just… fuck, you know? Times like this, I really think…" He trailed off, then set his fist back in front of his mouth, looking at Yuugi. After a moment he smiled. "You know what? I'm sorry to have bothered you. I'll just get going…"

Yami pushed off the door, stumbling toward the hole in the wall, and Yuugi hesitated apprehensively, before groaning and limping forward a step to catch Yami's arm. "Wait, wait… come inside, I'll… I'll make you a drink or something…"

He blinked, raising his head in shock as he looked around at him. "You'll what?"

"I… damn it, this is stupid. I know what it's like to find out second hand," he said wearily, pulling Yami back. "And I've been a jerk to you when you were just trying to be nice. I reserve the right to knock you out with a baseball bat if you try and jump me or whatever, but come on inside."

Yami frowned, turning back to look at him curiously. "Really?"

"Yeah," he said, and put his key back in the lock. "Besides, from the feel of my spleen, I think I'm gonna need someone else to reach the coffee tonight. Who knew falling over hurt so much?"

"Guess you must have hit pretty hard…" he said slowly, feeling his shoulders slump in relief. "Thanks, Yuugi…"

"No problem."

* * *

It had taken him almost an hour to fully recover from the shock of hearing about Sugoroku's death. It was just so hard to believe such a healthy man could die from something so insignificant as a virus. But eventually, after sitting and listening to Yuugi talk about him, absently smiling as they made and drank coffee, he almost managed to forget.

"So you live here on your own now?"

Yuugi shrugged, glancing at the clock before answering. "In a manner of speaking. Jounouch-kun technically lives here, but his work ensures that he can only sleep here a total of four months out of the year, and about two of those usually get spent sleeping with his girlfriend in her hotels. My friend Anzu is also a resident, but more of a guest that treats the place like her home whenever she's in the country."

"Must be exciting," he said. "Most kids your age are only just getting out of university, and here you are owning your own home, on a million-a-month salary, world famous…"

"It's most definitely not a million-a-month salary," he replied, grinning despite himself, "and I haven't been famous for a long time."

"Still…"

"What about you? I didn't catch how old you are."

Yami took a long pull of his coffee, playing cool as he thought fast. "Twenty-four," he said finally. "Twenty-four, and I still have to rent a shared flat to manage paying my bills and eating a very lean diet."

"Yeah, but you went to university, didn't you? I got a job with Kaiba Corp. straight out of school," he pointed out, and Yami coughed, nodding vaguely.

"I guess that's a point…"

"So where do you come from? You said something about only getting into the country a few days ago…?"

"Yeah. The day I met you, actually," he said, smiling again. "You're going to hate this, but I'm from… North Africa."

Yuugi blinked, looking him up and down. "Uhh… forgive me for saying so, but you don't really look particularly African."

"And you don't look the exact image of a Japanese businessman, either," he said, smirking. "Besides, it's not so much North Africa as the Middle East."

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to get around telling me you're from my most hated of all countries?"

He winced, and Yuugi huffed, shaking his head in amusement.

"Egyptian. Well, there you go. I knew there was something I didn't trust about you," he said, and painfully pushed himself to his feet, collecting Yami's mug from the table. "Another drink?"

"Does that mean you'll forgive me?"

"I'll get back to you on that," he grinned, then winced, his hand flying up to hold his abdomen.

Yami frowned, jumping to his feet to stand next to Yuugi before he even realised he was moving. He leaned close, his hands twitching in a restrained urge to try and make it better somehow. "Are you alright? Maybe you should go to the doctor. You hit the ground pretty hard."

"No, it's fine," he said, and let out of controlled breath before looking up. "I've just gotta take it easy and –"

He trailed off, just staring up at him blankly, and Yami furrowed his brow. "Yuugi? What is it? Something wrong?"

"Uh… um…" He blinked, shaking his head quickly to clear it. "Nothing. I'm fine. I just… you looked… Just a strange thought."

"Yuugi…?"

There was a loud bang, and they both looked up and around at the door.

"I'm home! Yuugi, you here?"

"In the –!" Yuugi cut himself off, grimacing. "In the kitchen!"

Jounouchi made a small sound of acknowledgement, but it was another few moments before he arrived in the doorway, only to immediately freeze as he frowned at Yami. "Myoujin. What're you doing here?"

"Came to see Yuugi," he said, putting his hands in his pockets. Jounouchi continued to glare at him, so he coughed, nodding as he stepped away from Yuugi. "I didn't know the Kame game shop had been closed so long. Yuugi was coming home just as I walked up."

"That so?"

"That's so," said Yuugi, before Yami could get himself in trouble. "It turns out he knew Grandpa a few years back. We were just talking about him. You want a coffee?"

"No, I'm okay," said Jounouchi, his eyes still wary as they looked Yami over.

"Yami?"

He hesitated, looking between the two before quickly shaking his head. "I think I was just leaving, actually."

Yuugi raised his eyebrows, glancing at Jounouchi. "Okay. I'll see you out."

"Thanks," he said slowly, waiting for Yuugi to lead before following him past Jounouchi. He frowned at the daggers he could feel in his back, but said nothing as they moved into the entrance hall.

"So," said Yuugi, casually accusatory. "Should I expect you to have some mystery reason to visit Kaiba Corp. this week?"

As much as he knew he deserved it, Yami ignored that, pulling on his shoes. "Jounouchi doesn't seem to like me much."

"No… he's a pretty good judge of character like that."

Yami frowned as he straightened up, meeting Yuugi's cynically amused gaze with a even look. There was an edge to him that Yami was sure wasn't supposed to be there; an anger that scared him for reasons he didn't know. "I like talking to you, Yuugi."

"You've said that."

"I would really like to do it again," he continued, stepping closer. "Over dinner sometime, maybe? Say tomorrow night? Around seven?"

"Can't. I'll be in Tokyo until six thirty," he said bluntly.

"Eight?"

He smiled despite himself, folding his arms across his chest. "Yami, you're a nice guy… Possibly a psychopath, and decidedly strange, but nice," he said, "but I don't date. I don't even have real relationships. And you, with all your movie-written lines, are clearly looking for one. So, as nice and friendly and good looking as you are…"

"No, come on," he said firmly. "I like you, you obviously think I'm at least interesting… It doesn't have to be a date, it can be just two people eating at the same table, exchanging conversation."

Yuugi chuckled, shaking his head. "No. I have work tomorrow."

"You've gotta eat."

"I won't be in the city until seven thirty, and I will be working until nine," he said pointedly. "Dinner will be instant ramen in my office."

Yami set an annoyed hand on his hip, and Yuugi frowned, leaning back a little at the pose. It seemed earily familiar, but he found himself staring more at Yami's eyes, burning with some unreadable emotion. He hesitated, then sighed, tapping his sock against the floor. "How do you feel about sushi?"

"Hate it with a passion."

He grinned. "Burger World?"

"Fantastic onion rings."

He made a face, but smiled anyway, pushing his feet into sandals as he opened the door to the dust-covered game shop. "I'll be there for lunch the day after tomorrow, at twelve fifteen, for fifty-two minutes. I guess you could be there at the time."

Yami considered pushing for something more, but one look at Yuugi's expression told him that was the final offer for tonight. He smirked, following Yuugi out to the front door. "I will be there. And so will you, I hope," he murmured, then made good use of the narrow doorway to brush against him as he left. "Good night!"

"Night," agreed Yuugi, before turning and slamming the door shut behind him.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

_**Future Tense – Chapter Three**_

**DISCLAIMER**: So… tired… I didn't get to sleep until six this morning. It's not healthy. So sorry if I seem kinda short in this next bit.

_Because I'm tired, and have no patience, I'm just going to explain this here. _Everyone's memory is **fine**_. The reason they don't recognise Yami and Bakura is because they both look very, very different from the way they looked before. They don't recognise their names because Yami was never called 'Yami' in the Japanese version I'm basing this off, and Bakura is not _that _unusual a family name, so someone going around referring to themselves simply as 'Bakura', especially in anime world, is not that strange. And anyway, you don't expect dead people to suddenly show up in your local net café, do you? "Oh, wow, that woman looks vaguely like my dead aunt… and her friend has the same name as my aunt's evil stepmother. Hey, Aunt Flo, where've you been the last five years?" Come on, guys, give me some maneuvering room!_

* * *

In the three years Yuugi had been working for Kaiba Corporation, he had been called many things. Several of them were unflattering, and he chose to not hear about most of them. The worst had phased out over a year ago, once it became obvious that Yuugi was too good at his job to be a whore.

These days the only thing he had been called was 'an obsessive compulsive workaholic', which even he had to admit was true. At the absolute minimum, he spent nine hours a day working for Kaiba Corporation, and had been known to spend up to sixteen. He only paused for meals at irregular intervals; otherwise he ate while working – particularly if he had arcade duty. Behind his back, Anzu and Jounouchi wondered if it was a coping mechanism, but to his face they were just impressed he made so much money these days.

Yuugi never noticed the spectacular view outside his window, and many people wondered if he was even aware there was a corner bar behind his door. It was a very rare moment that Yuugi was in his office and not either focussed on his laptop or whoever had come in to talk to him.

This fact was not lost on him as Yuugi sat back in his chair, one foot braced on the desk and the other crossed behind it, frowning at the beautiful rock garden he had never noticed sitting beside his photograph of high school graduation.

His laptop screensaver was lazily gliding around the screen, which meant he had been sitting still for too long, but he continued to stare at the rock garden. He had more important things to think about; like why he had packed up early last night and gone to have dinner with a man he barely even knew.

He could have sworn they organised to just have lunch together – a simple, pointless lunch at Burger World. Somehow it had lasted ninety-five minutes instead of fifty. Then, somehow, they had gotten on to a conversation about foreign foods, and for some odd reason Yuugi had brought up his favourite Italian restaurant. Somehow, he had wound up agreeing to meet Yami there for dinner. Worse still, he had actually turned up and spent a fantastic three hours with that same man he was _sure _he barely knew.

It was all wrong.

He just didn't _do _this sort of thing.

The only dates he ever went on always resulted in sex, and then usually him rushing off to find Jounouchi—or at least rushing off to call him—and downing half a bottle of scotch in self-disgust. But last night, he had driven Yami back to his house and they had (eventually, after almost another half hour of talking) bid each other goodnight before Yuugi drove back to the rubble, humming a song he had almost forgotten.

In all his adult life, he had never gone out to dinner with a stranger. Made out with one, maybe, but he had never taken a relationship so seriously and easily as he did with this particular stranger. But with Yami it had felt so utterly natural that it was only now that the strangeness had occurred to him.

That was the most peculiar thing, come to think of it. Everything he had done with Yami felt natural. That had never, ever happened to Yuugi with a man before. His second real girlfriend had been something like that, but to have it happen with a guy was a bit… disturbing, really.

He twirled his pen through his fingers, sucking on the bottom row of his teeth.

Since the Millenium Phase, Ryou had gone through eight 'serious' relationships, not including his apparently blossoming one with this Bakura guy. Six of them had been male, and anyone that thought about it knew in their heart of hearts that the girls were more experimental than anything. In the relationship department, Yuugi was just behind him, having been with six people on and off for the last five years. He had always considered himself straight, but twice he had found himself with men. One he rationalised with the fact that he had just been there after his grandfather died and Yuugi had been extraordinarily fragile. They had never really thought about why it continued on the casual basis it did. The other had been a very bad night at a club and the guy refused to let go straight away. He had never felt really comfortable thinking about either of them.

But when he thought about the way Yami had smiled at him; the way their fingers kept brushing together on the table; that nasty habit of Yami's to cross and uncross his legs just to slide the tip of his boot up Yuugi's calf… none of it was that bad.

Matter of fact, when Yami had taken his hand on the way to the car, it had taken a very conscious decision on his part to not lace their fingers together.

This was bad.

This was very, very bad.

His eyes drifted down to his electronic calendar, focussing on the highlighted Wednesday square. If he clicked it, he knew he would see that he had a long day, finally finishing with a movie he had to go to because the company was considering purchasing the gaming rights. He had skipped out on the premiere when he saw the previews and thought it looked terrible, but Mokuba had pointedly told him he had to go and see it or _else_. What 'else' was, he had no idea, but he was still an employee and employees did as they were told.

The back of his mind was poking at him to call the number Yami had given him last night and ask him if he wanted to come along.

Very, very, extremely bad.

Maybe he should call Anzu. She always knew the answer to his relationship problems, just like he always knew the answer to hers. He had only met this guy six days ago. He was not supposed to be so interested.

He twirled his pen again, his eyes flicking toward his telephone.

Suddenly, his foot was gone from the desk as he swung forward, scooping the receiver up and dialing in one swift motion before he could think about it too much.

* * *

One day, he decided, he was going to pay Ishizu back for this. She was cruel, and quite possibly insane. Making _him_ Yami Moto: tour guide of the Egyptology wing.

He sighed, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling as he passed through another arch into the 'Giza' room. It was just wrong on too many levels. For one thing, she had neglected to inform him his family name was 'Moto' (probably because he would have pointed out how ridiculous it was), so not only was he now operating under _two _false names, but they were both as pathetic as each other. For another, he knew absolutely nothing about modern theories of Egypt. He had been forced to spend his first three days pouring over books filled with useless and often incorrect facts to recite. And finally, he hated his job. Children were manageable when they were doing something they liked. When they were being forced to listen to lectures, they were completely intolerable.

"Alright, everybody, allow me to introduce you to the pyramids," he said, forcing a bright note into his voice. "As you probably know, the pyramids were built to house the pharaoh's body after he died. What you might not know is that the pyramids were only built through a specific time period."

The only way he managed to make it through the two tours a day was reminding himself of what his life would soon become. He was going to get back into gaming, and soon he would be banned from every casino in the country and a legend the world over. He would never have to even think about another pyramid. Life would be bliss.

"Up to only a few years ago, it was believed the sphinx was built to guard all the pyramids that lay behind it. If you'll gather around this model, you can see the theory gave the sphinx guardianship over these—"

Of course, in order to get that life, things were going to be a little more difficult than he had first thought, but so help him, he would do it. He had decided three times over now – once back in Egypt, once in the Gateway café, and then once again last night when Yuugi offered to drive him home. He was going to have that life.

He smirked at a girl right in front of him, and she blushed, giggling helplessly while her friends grinned and nudged her. Some part of him was disgusted he needed to resort to charm to keep the kids interested, but if he was honest he was boring himself.

"Now, we're running a little early, so you've got ten minutes to explore before we move onto the next room. Have fun," he said, and the kids breathed a visible sigh of relief before scattering around the room to gawk at the model pyramids and sphinx. Yami set his hands on his hips, waiting impatiently for the teachers to walk over and begin asking him questions they would later demand the kids know the answers to.

They were simple, boring questions that all tour groups asked: for how long were the pyramids built, who was the first pharaoh to build one, who was the last, why is the current belief that the sphinx was guarding a different pyramid, are you free on Wednesday night?

Yami had been answering automatically, but at that he blinked, looking around at all the teachers in confusion before the voice actually registered. Oh, god…

He spun around, paling at the young man behind him. Yuugi was standing off to the side, his hands gripping the straps of a heavy-looking backpack to match his black high school uniform. Yami croaked, his mouth opening slightly in shock, and Yuugi smiled.

"Good afternoon," he said, and Yami blinked again.

"Ai…yahh… ahh… Yuugi," he said finally. "Yo."

"Do you have a minute?"

He frowned, then looked off to the side at the teachers, who were still waiting for him to get back to their questions. He smirked, tilting his head back at them in the first real sign of humour he had shown all day. "All questions will be answered at the end of the tour," he said, and turned his back on them before they could object. He gripped Yuugi's elbow and hurried him off to the arch they had all entered through.

"Yami Moto?" asked Yuugi. "I thought you said your name was Myoujin."

He glanced down at his name badge, then forced another smirk, shrugging. "Yeah. Screw up in administration. But by the time anyone noticed, I was already doing tours, and it'll take a while to get the right name down."

"Ah. Paperwork strikes again," he said dryly, and Yami nodded.

"What about you, Yuugi? You're supposed to be twenty-two, what's with the student wear? And… what are you doing here?"

"Yeah, um, I called your house, and Bakura-kun said you would be here," he said, then sighed, running a hand back over the black gel that made up his hair. "As for the get up, I'm on arcade duty in half an hour. We released a new game called Monster Racer and the profit's been practically marginal. It could be a slow start, or it could just be a bad game. Either way, I'm stuck pulling extra shifts as a sixteen year old kid that's obsessed with Street Fighter and DDR."

Yami smirked. "I would sympathise and offer to join you, but duty calls."

"Not to mention I wouldn't get a thing done with you there," he said. "So anyway… _are _you free on Wednesday night?"

He raised an eyebrow. Last night Yuugi had told him he didn't date, and so he had assumed that meant he would have to coerce him into each and every meeting. "Wednesday?"

"Yeah, I have to go and see a movie for work," he said, a faint blush spreading over his cheeks. "It's an action-adventure, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be terrible, but would you like to come with me? I offer free tickets and popcorn as bribery."

Yami smiled, flicking back his hair in a way he knew made him look good. "I would love to go. What time?"

"Well… the movie starts at seven fifteen," he said, frowning slightly. "But… do you know where Kaiba Corporation is? I've got a pretty busy day, and I'll probably be caught up in some work, so if you could come by the office to remind me about six thirty?"

"Why, Yuugi Mutou, are you asking me to pick you up for a date?" he asked playfully, but Yuugi's smile seemed more like a grimace.

"Right… I'll see you then," he said simply, raising his hand in farewell as he walked away. Yami watched him until he turned the corner into the main foyer, then smirked, bending his knees in self-congratulation before turning back to the tour group.

* * *

"Am I insane?"

Jounouchi opened his mouth to take a deep breath, rolling back his eyes in consideration, before he let out a gush of air and put down his coffee mug. "Y'know, I don't know, Yuug'."

He frowned, lacing his fingers together to stop his index and middle finger from setting themselves apart. "I don't know him. He could be a raging psychopath for all I know. Hell, he's already shown he's a borderline stalker. How do I know he isn't actually a homicidal maniac?"

"Hate to say it, Yuugi, but you kinda attract 'em," he pointed out, and Yuugi sighed, hunching his shoulders.

"Not anymore, that's what –" He cut himself off by suddenly standing up to pace around the kitchen. "This whole thing is just… weird. I mean, when I called his house this morning, I could swear to God that I heard Ryou in the background. And he was giggling. You know the one, the really childish sound he makes when he's gotten laid."

Jounouchi raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Well if he was there, you'd kind of expect it," he said. "And besides, apparently this Bakura guy's been hanging out in the Gateway for the last week straight. Usually, Ryou just sees something he likes and jumps it before he can find the flaw he'll eventually dump it for. So it's about time, y'know?"

"Yeah, but… but I mean…" He paused, waving his hand desperately for a moment before surrendering. "Do you have any of Mai's cigarettes?"

"Not even if I did, Yuugi," he said bluntly, and Yuugi groaned, snatching a mechanical pencil from the bench to hold between his fingers.

"I had a dream last night."

"Wow, really?"

Too preoccupied with his thoughts to manage his usual response, Yuugi put the pencil to his lips. "It was about high school. Second year. Right after we met Otogi-kun. I'm not sure if it was a dream or a memory, but… I was just sitting alone with Ryou… You know, thinking about how he used to be, I…" He frowned, shaking his head sadly. "It's like he's a different person now. Ryou from high school would never sleep with the people he does. He would never have had the courage to kiss a person, let alone sleep around with people he barely knew."

Jounouchi sat back, watching him in concern. "Yuugi?"

"He's just changed so much…"

"Yuugi… everyone has. High school isn't real life, we're who we are now. Look at me – look at you! You're nothing like you used to be!" he said, then paused, his eyes narrowing. "Why the sudden thought?"

He was silent for a long moment, then slowly raised his eyes up over his glasses to meet Jounouchi's steady gaze. "I… I didn't change. I grew up. Right?" He waited for a response, but when none was forthcoming, he looked away again. "I shouldn't be doing this. Asking random café visitors in for a drink and going out to dinner with them and inviting them to movies… it's stupid, it's… it's dangerous. You can't trust people, can you?"

"That's what Kaiba says," murmured Jounouchi, tilting his head slightly. "Yuugi, you okay?"

"I don't know," he said quietly, folding his arms in on himself. "And I think that's what worries me."

* * *

Although Kaiba Corporation had grown significantly since its president had officially graduated high school, the original headquarters still stood the same as it always had; twenty stories high and filled with glass. It also still employed hundreds of almost identical women with pastel-coloured hair that matched their eyes cut in bobs of differing lengths. One with blue colouring informed him 'Yuugi Mutou-sama' could be found on the nineteenth floor, and when he arrived there a green one bowed as she directed him down a boardroom-lined glass hallway.

To be honest, Yami found the building not only daunting but more than a little creepy. At least, he reminded himself as he found a glass door engraved with Yuugi's name and stamp, he would be able to get out of there reasonably quickly. Yuugi had to work here nine hours a day.

The bobbed woman behind the secretary's desk had purple colouring, and she stared at him as he walked up to the desk. "May I help you?" she asked vacantly. She almost sounded like a sound recording.

He hesitated, looking around the room. The idea of Seto Kaiba deigning to give his former rival such a lavish office had suddenly struck him as odd, so he looked back at the door stamp in concern. "This _is _Yuugi Mutou's office?"

"Yes," she said, and he slowly leaned over, bracing his arms on the desk. This did not bode well to calm his suspicions.

"My name is Yami Myoujin. I'm here to pick up Yuugi, I don't know if he told you…?"

She blinked at him, then turned to her perfect streamlined laptop. Her fingers flashed over the keys, and barely two seconds had passed before she turned back to him. "Yes, he did."

"Can I see him, then?"

"No, you cannot," she stated, and he let out an annoyed breath.

"Why not?"

"Mutou-sama is currently indisposed," she said bluntly. "He is very busy, I am sure you understand."

Yami drummed his fingers against the desk, forcing his anger down. "Right. Well, he told me to come here and pick him up _because _he would be working. Could you at least tell him I'm here?"

"Yes," she said, but made no move to do so.

He rolled his eyes as he realised his mistake. "Will you tell him I'm here?"

When she opened her mouth to answer rather than move, Yami slammed his fists down on the desk and pushed off, stalking over to the polished oak door he assumed was Yuugi's office.

"Wait! I have not told Mutou-sama! You cannot go in there!" the secretary cried, but Yami ignored her, shoving the door open. He stepped inside, then immediately froze.

It was a beautiful office; filled with matching oak and black leather furniture. The window behind Yuugi's desk looked out over the city in what was already a stunning view – it would be absolutely magnificent once night fell. The carpet was a thick green, the walls gentle white, and the bar near the door was fully stocked with a tall, raven-haired young man pouring bourbon. Yuugi sat at his desk, obviously in the middle of something on his laptop as he stared at Yami over the top of his glasses. Leaning over his shoulder, one hand on the desk and the other on Yuugi's bicep was Seto Kaiba, glaring at Yami in customary style.

His hand slid lower on Yuugi's arm, his chest brushing against Yuugi's shoulder as he leaned forward, and Yami felt his blood begin to boil.

"Seto-sama, Mutou-sama, I am incredibly sorry, I did not mean to allow him through," stammered the secretary, hurrying up behind him. "He demanded to see Mutou-sama and when I told him Mutou-sama was predisposed he ignored me, I apologise so very much!" She sank into the deepest bow she could manage without falling over, but Yami was too busy restraining the urge to hurt Kaiba to notice.

"It's okay Chiharu," said Yuugi, uncertainly. "It's not a problem."

"Seto-sama –!"

"Don't you have filing to do?" Kaiba snapped, and the woman squeaked before rushing out of the office.

Yuugi continued to stare after her for a moment, before turning to look up at Kaiba. "I keep telling you, she's too high-strung. Can't you transfer her?"

"It's Mokuba's problem," he said dismissively, still glaring at Yami. "Who are you?"

"Oh, right," said Yuugi, coming back to himself. "Seto, this is Yami Myoujin, a friend of mine. Yami, this is Seto and Mokuba Kaiba. My bosses."

"Nice to meet you," he ground out, and Kaiba raised an eyebrow while the raven-haired teenager laughed.

"So you're the infamous café visitor!" he said brightly. "You're going with Yuugi to see that movie, aren't you? About time he got around to it, I tell you what."

"I'll just be a second, Yami, I just need to finish these notes," Yuugi said, and waved at one of the couches. "Take a seat – Mokuba, Yami can have my drink if he wants it."

In typical unmannered style, Mokuba casually pushed at Yami's shoulder, directing him over to the couch, and pushed one of the glasses into his hand. He began chattering about the movie he would be seeing, but Yami's full attention remained on Kaiba, who had leaned back over Yuugi's shoulder to peer at the laptop. They spoke quietly, obviously comfortable with the close quarters, and toward the end of their conversation Yuugi leaned back in his chair while Kaiba sat on the side, his arm slung over the back of the chair. Finally, Yuugi nodded and stood up, turning toward Yami again.

"Okay, that's that. Let me just go clean up and we can go."

He quickly left, and the office fell silent. Kaiba had taken Yuugi's seat to close everything down, and Mokuba suddenly leaned back to appraise Yami in a strangely cold fashion. Not that he noticed. He was busy calculating how long it would take for sixteen jackals to tear the flesh from Kaiba's bones.

"So… you going with Yuugi tonight…" Mokuba's eyes narrowed dangerously. "It's a date?"

Distracted, Yami just glanced at him sideways. "Why would you think that?"

"Well… what you're wearing, for one," he said, indicating the ruby-red silk shirt that hung from Yami's torso in a way he was sure was artfully arranged.

"I always dress like this," he said, but Mokuba's lips slid into a nasty smile.

"If it is a date, you should just know that Yuugi isn't exactly Old Faithful," he said, would-be charming. "Just so you know, I mean. We wouldn't want you to get the wrong idea about any relationship you would be forming."

Yami silently turned his head, shifting to glare at Mokuba head on. He was tall and commanding, like his brother, but Yami had always been gifted with a talent to terrify grown men. After a moment, Mokuba faultered and stood up, walking over to the desk to hide it.

"What do you think of all this, Big Brother? Don't you think it's strange that Yuugi should get a new friend _now_? So soon after that big talk we all had in New York?"

Kaiba ignored him, intent on whatever he was doing on Yuugi's laptop. "Mutou's personal life is his own business. I thought we understood that."

"Obviously I had a different understanding of it," he muttered, then lowered his voice. "Big Brother, you know this isn't right. This proves it's not about girls, it's about the two of you, and I know –"

The sound of shattering glass cut him off, and they both looked around in surprise. Mokuba yelped and fell back against the window, but Kaiba's hands leaving the keyboard were the only indication of anything being wrong. He sat back, his eyes cold as ice as he surveyed the scene in front of him.

Yami was still sitting on the couch, leaning back with his arms and legs crossed, but his eyes had narrowed to glowing red slits, his hair waving under the strain of the power emanating from a hazy purple mist rising from his very skin. The shattered glass at his feet still sparked with black lightning.

"I see," murmured Kaiba, resting his elbows back on the arms of his chair. "And you would be Egyptian, would you?"

"As much as you are, priest," he snarled, and Mokuba barely restrained a quiet whimper. Five years was not long enough to recover from fear instilled in your formative years.

"Yes… I am afraid… Myouji, was it?"

"Myoujin," he corrected coldly, smirking.

"Of course." He matched the dark smile with his own, lacing his fingers. "I'm afraid that you'll find you arrived five years too late. The Millenium Items are gone, as is the pharaoh. All those involved have moved on. You have no business in Domino. Perhaps you might be interested in contacting one Ishizu Ishtahl."

Yami lurched to his feet, smile gone as he stalked across the room to lean over the desk. "And you might be interested in contacting her yourself, _Seto_. That way you won't have to look like such a fool when you realise things are not the way you think they are," he hissed, and the mist surrounding him began spreading down onto the desk, immediately rusting the silver pen that lay beside his hand.

Kaiba gazed at the pen, then raised his eyes back to Yami. "Exactly what are you implying?"

"I am _telling _you," he said, his voice low and dangerous, "whether anything has already happened or not, you are _never _to touch my aibou again."

There was a beat of silence, before Mokuba's sharp intake of breath indicated the title had sunk in. Kaiba's fingers unlaced, a thread of uncertainty running through his eyes as he sat up. "You… Yuugi…?"

"Y- you're… A-" began Mokuba, but the sound of the door opening cut him off, and the mist suddenly disappeared as Yami spun around, meeting Yuugi with his most charming smile.

"Ready?"

Yuugi smiled back, walking over to grab his wallet and keys off the desk in front of Kaiba. "Good to go. There's nothing else, is there, Seto?"

He hesitated, his eyes flickering between Yuugi and the threatening Yami. He paused, then shifted just enough for Yuugi and Mokuba to notice. "Will you be coming in on Saturday morning?"

"As far as I know," he said, confused. "Nothing special's happening, is it?"

"No… business as usual," he said quietly, his eyes narrowed as they turned back to Yami. "It was nice meeting you… _Yami_."

Yuugi raised an eyebrow at the tension in the room, but decided to just put it down to the usual Kaiba-reaction to his social life and smiled at Yami, leading the way out of the office.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

_**Future Tense – Chapter Four**_

**DISCLAIMER: **-sigh- Okay… last update before Christmas, so I feel like I should be doing a Christmas fic. But no, no… closest I get to even a present to you guys is the ending of this chapter. Enjoy, all, and have happy… holidays. Whatever they might be!

* * *

The air was thick; heavy with smoke and sweat. Dim spotlights lit the dark lane way between flashing consoles, leading to the neon green glow of the prize collection desk. The dark figure of the cashier could be seen lounging beneath the light, his cigarette the clearest indication of his face.

No one noticed the doors slid open, or the pair of elegant boots that stepped through and down to the games floor. Yami's eyes narrowed as he scanned the crowd, irritated and yet somehow thankful for the lack of attention. It was past seven, and most of the crowd had aged beyond high school, but there was still a group of suited teenagers clustered around a sit-down game. He strode over, straightening to his full height and craning his neck to see who sat on either side of the stations.

As expected, Yuugi was sitting on one side, his pretend uniform unbuttoned and flaring out behind him. He had lost his glasses somewhere, and the gel was starting to lose its hold on his hair. None of these things seemed to matter though, as his fingers flew over the buttons and joystick, almost all his concentration on the game. His eyes, Yami noticed though, occasionally flicked over to the miniscule crowd surrounding a racing-style game in the corner.

Yami hesitated, then nudged a sailor-suited girl beside him. She barely glanced back at him. "What?"

"What's going on?"

"Yukito-kun's been playing for two hours. If he wins twice more, he'll have beaten thirty games straight!" she said distractedly, groaning as Yuugi's character took a full punch to the face. "C'mon, Yukito-kun! Let's go, let's go!"

"Yukito…?" murmured Yami, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, the little guy," she said vaguely, but Yami wasn't listening. He was edging around to the opposite station, working his way through the throng to stand behind Yuugi's opponent.

A few minutes passed before Yuugi—playing Bruce Ryu – at least some things never changed—managed to flip off the wall, landing a solid kick to his opponent's face. The character was stunned for the two seconds it took Yuugi to charge up his special ability and win the game. The crowd cheered, yammering about how close that game had been, and the opponent grinned in anticipation. "Alright…! This time I'm –" He stopped, turning to look up at Yami, who had slapped a stalling hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Gimme a try, okay?"

For a moment, he looked like he was going to refuse, but Yami tightened his hold ever so slightly, and the boy's eyes went blank. He immediately stood up, and Yami slid onto the stool without another glance.

He selected Bruce Ryu as well, and the crowd cheered in amused anticipation. The fight began, and the cheers slowly faded into awed silence. Yami smirked, but on the other side of the station, Yuugi's brow furrowed. The kids had never been this good before. He stopped listening for Monster Racer information, instead focussing all his attention on the game. He had never really intended to get so involved, but after two hours of playing, it was purely the principle of the thing.

The fight continued, the points tallying ever higher, and the students' eyes grew steadily wider. Yuugi's lips spread into a wide grin, and he hunched over the console to get closer to the screen just as Yami did the same on his side. After ten long minutes, however, Yami misjudged his pressure on the joystick, his character went sliding across the screen, and Yuugi immediately spun around, slamming a foot into Yami's neck. Yami's life points dropped almost halfway, his character stunned, and Yuugi took the opportunity, crying out the attack in pure adrenaline: "One inch punch!"

The letters "KO" appeared on screen, and the two young men sat back on their stools, panting and grinning as the crowd suddenly erupted into excited babble and cheers. The points tallied, earning them both top places in the High Score charts, and after typing his code name 'YKC', Yuugi stood up, only barely wincing at the pain in his sleeping legs. He ignored the congratulating crowd, intent on greeting his latest opponent.

"Wow, that was the best game I've had in –" He cut himself off, eyes widening as he took in the man sitting on the other side. "You are…"

"Yo, 'Yukito'," greeted Yami, pushing himself to his feet. "Great match."

He stared at him for a moment, and then his eyes narrowed back to their usual tired state and he smiled, nodding. "It really was."

* * *

"Let me guess," said Yuugi, as the doors to the arcade slid shut behind them. "You remembered I told you I'm at the arcade every Friday night and thought you'd come by?"

"Something like that," he said, then turned around to lean on the road gate, smirking back at him playfully. "But really, if that had been anything but a computer game, I would've kicked your arse."

He laughed, and Yami smiled, casually kicking out to gently knock against his thigh. Yuugi chuckled, kicking him back. "So… why did you come see me?" he asked. "I don't think I've seen a stranger so much in one week as I have you."

"I keep telling you: I _really _like you," he said, but Yuugi only raised an eyebrow, so he shrugged. "Am I really still a stranger?"

"Well… you _do _know a lot about me…" he said slowly. "I don't know much about you, though."

"I think," he said, tilting his head forward, "that you only need to know one thing to know everything about me."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

He hesitated, then chuckled and stepped forward, catching Yuugi's hips in both hands. "We have to keep some mystery in our relationship, don't we?"

Yuugi laughed, allowing himself to be pulled up against Yami's chest. "You pedophile. I'm Yukito Nadetsuko, aged sixteen. You're too old for me."

"Let them arrest me," he said, smirking, but Yuugi just laughed and pushed him back. "What?"

"I'm working!" he said, folding his arms over Yami's chest. "Like I said, I'm Yukito Nadetsuko. High school student. Even if you didn't creep me out, I can't play with you tonight."

"It becomes ever clearer how little fun you are," he said playfully. "Okay, so you can't play doctor with me… how about I play with you?"

"Hm?"

"It's not that unusual for a twenty-something to hang out in an arcade. You don't have to be constantly hanging out with high school kids to know what they think. Why don't I hang out with you here for a few hours?"

Yuugi blinked, as if the idea had never occurred to him before. He tilted his head, thinking, then looked up at Yami from under his brows. "Think you can remember to call me Yukito until we leave?"

He grinned, and Yuugi smiled, reaching out to take his hand and pull him back into the arcade.

* * *

The lock clicked and the door swung open, but its quiet creak was masked by the sound of laughter as Yuugi stumbled into the empty store and looked around, grinning helplessly. Yami soon followed, leaning his arm against the glass door as he stepped up behind him. It had been a good night, slowly filling with casual touches and enough innuendo to make the other gamers blush.

"Why is my house and shop rubble…" Yuugi repeated, and bit his lip with a smile as he looked around again. "Well… uh, you remember I told you Grandpa died, and then my mother took off to France?"

Yami nodded, his smile faultering at the reminder. "What about it?"

"Well, Grandpa had been sick for months, and so after he died, and the funeral, and cremation and all that was over, Mum went to visit my father and recover," he said, offhand as he turned to pull Yami into the dust-covered shop and close the door. "A month later, I had a really, really bad week, and came home to find Jounouch-kun had randomly taken off on a cruise, leaving me alone. And among all the bills was a letter from my mother."

Yami frowned but nodded anyway, eyeing the hole-ridden walls. "Telling you she wouldn't be coming back," he surmised. "I don't see how this –"

"Mm, but her exact wording was 'I know you'll be fine, just remember that your friends are there for you'," he said, and smiled at Yami's knowing hiss. "Exactly. None of my friends were around that month, except for the Kaiba Brothers, who were both treating me like an employee, not a friend."

"So you weren't fine."

"Actually, I was perfectly calm," he said, his cheeks colouring with an embarrassed blush, "… as I took the crowbar from the storage room and began to beat the crap out of every available glass surface."

"You _what_?"

"And then there was no glass left except for the windows and door, so I took to the walls. Then the couch. Then the coffee table…"

"Oh my… Shit, Yuugi…!"

He grinned, waving off Yami's disbelief with a wayward hand. "Luckily, Seto came to talk to me about something or other and stopped me, and in the end I got a new job. I was going to take advantage of the rubble and renovate the shop, but…" He paused, glancing around. "I got so busy, and I wasn't here much, until… I kinda stopped caring."

"Fuck…" breathed Yami, before turning back to look at him worriedly. "Yuugi, I…"

He shrugged carelessly, turning back to take his hands with a flirtatious smirk. "But it's fine now. And now, to move on to more pressing matters…"

"Pressing?"

"Yeah…" There was a spark in Yami's eyes, his lips curving up into a dangerous smirk, and so Yuugi laughed, pushing at his shoulder. "Nothing like that! I was going to ask if you would reconsider."

Yami hesitated, before his memory kicked in and he grinned. "Oh, no," he said firmly. "We made a deal. If I beat you at DDR, you cooked me dinner. And I don't know when I'm going to see you again, so it's gotta be tonight."

"Knowing you, you'll probably end up seeing me tomorrow. Besides, it's late. It's almost ten…" he said, inwardly cheering when Yami shook his head, stubborn.

"Tonight."

He smiled, sliding his hand down Yami's arm in a carefully absent gesture, and Yami licked his lips before following him up into the brightly lit house. Jounouchi was in the entrance way, hopping on one foot as he struggled to get his shoes on. "Hey Yuug', I… Myoujin."

"Evening, Jounouchi," said Yami, but Yuugi frowned.

"You aren't heading out?" he asked. "Where are you going?"

"Mai's hotel," he said, still frowning at Yami. "What're you doing?"

"We had a bet. I have to make Yami a home cooked meal," he said, and failed to suppress a playful squark and giggle as he was hauled up against Yami's chest. The sound made Jounouchi blink and stare at him, but Yuugi didn't notice, trying to scowl at his captor. "So help me, I'll put rat poison in it!"

Jounouchi's jaw dropped a centimetre, his shoulders soon following out of shock. He looked up at Yami, eyes narrowing slightly, before he smiled and shook his head. "Okay… well, have fun then… good to see you again, Yami."

"Yeah, you too," he said distractedly, as Yuugi managed to worm his way out of his arms.

"Hey, Yuugi," called Jounouchi, and he looked around at him. He paused, then vaguely waved at his friend's hair. "Y'gel's worn out. Hair's starting to stick up."

Yuugi shrugged and grinned, waving as he turned into the kitchen. "Come back safely!"

"Yeah…" he murmured, and just stared in pleased disbelief as the other two moved into the kitchen, still smiling.

* * *

The clock had ticked past one, and the street outside was still and quiet in the early morning.

The volume had been turned off on the television and a black and white movie about the undead played across the screen. The scenes were filled with gore and bad special effects, but Yami was barely paying attention, his mind on the door behind him.

He had been covered by a warm blanket, and despite his leather clothing and his unfamiliar surroundings, he was comfortable, curled in his armchair – just happy to have some time alone with the young man in the kitchen.

"Here you go," said a quiet voice, gone raspy with the late hour. He looked around, smiling as Yuugi walked into the lounge room, two steaming coffee mugs in hand. "One refilled coffee with milk and two sugars."

"Mm, thank you," Yami said softly, reaching up to take the offered mug. "You didn't have to make it for me."

"Sure I did. You're a guest, aren't you?"

He smiled, watching as Yuugi curled himself into the armchair beside his own, foregoing the blanket on the floor to just lie back in relaxed comfort. "From what I've seen, you're not exactly at home in these parts yourself."

"Oh, now that's exaggerating," he said, folding his legs against the arm of the chair. He paused, then decided he was content with his place and propped his forearms on his thighs, mug resting between them. "I sleep here most nights. I just don't eat here very often. Time and convenience, you know?"

He nodded. "Which provides a nice place to go back to our game. First time you can remember eating in a real restaurant."

"Uh… I know I ate at restaurants before this, but the first one I actually remember was when I was twelve," he said, rolling his eyes back in thought. They had been playing 'firsts' for over an hour, just getting to know one another better. It had been both amusing and embarrassing, but was also providing a lot of stories they never could have imagined remembering without the prompt. "It was my grandmother's birthday… her last, actually. I can only remember it because it was a French restaurant and my mother made me try escargot."

"Any good?"

"Um… it was okay," he said, bobbing his head to the side. "I liked the garlic sauce."

"I was fourteen," he said certainly. "It was a tavern, not a restaurant, but my family never went out for food, until I snuck out on my own. I'm pretty sure I ate some kind of drug, because the last thing I remember was informing the bar matron that she was a very attractive man—she wasn't, by the way—and then waking up the next night with a chamber pot on my head and half the village in gaol for trying to kidnap me."

Yuugi laughed, raising his mug to his lips as he asked, "Rich man's son, huh?"

"_Very _rich man's son," he corrected, and Yuugi grinned over his mug.

"Okay… first… cigarette."

His eyes narrowed, his fingers tapping nervously on his mug. "Never had a modern cigarette. My first smoked _drug _was when I was… five."

"_Five_?" hissed Yuugi, gaping at him.

"Tradition in my culture," he explained. "You?"

He continued to stare at him for a long moment, then blinked and sat back. "Eighteen. Trying my hand at being a rebel."

"It stick?"

"Yeah. I smoked for three years," he said, staring into his coffee. "I don't like it, but I still get itchy fingers sometimes. I would've kept going if Seto and Jounouch-kun hadn't made me quit."

Yami gazed at him silently for a second, then smiled. "Aside from the fact I don't like Kaiba, I'm glad you did. I think you'd be better not smoking."

"Mm."

"First kiss."

Yuugi grinned. "What kind of kiss? Technically, my mother was my first."

"Yeah, yeah… tongue," he said, sticking his own out. "And I want details."

He laughed, leaning his head back to consider. "Mm… First tongue was when I was thirteen, on summer camp. A girl tackled me when I wasn't expecting it."

"Fair enough… I was twelve."

"Don't tell me – tradition?"

"Uh huh," He took another mouthful of coffee, pausing for a moment to swallow the hot substance before continuing. "Real bitch of a woman. Didn't know her name. She did her job and was done with it."

"Ouch. Too close to home," he said, frowning. "Since both our tongue-stories suck… first kiss that you ever really wanted."

He drank while he considered, watching Yuugi over the top of his mug. "Serving girl when I was about fifteen. She was cute, sweet, and could never get her earrings to stay fastened. But I never got the chance to kiss her properly."

"Why not?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "I never had any time to myself when I was growing up. It wasn't until I had inherited my father's… position that I would have been able to really speak to her. Not even a week later she was… or rather… _I _was far beyond her reach…"

"So you never had a real kiss that you wanted?" asked Yuugi, quietly.

"Never. It was all business and training and formalities," he said, patting his knee with each word. "After her, there was never really anyone I wanted. Except one person, who never even noticed me that way."

"Who?"

"Uh, uh, uhh!" he said playfully. "Your turn."

He snorted. "Cheat. Okay… first kiss I ever really wanted was when I was eighteen. But I didn't really want it at the time. It was more that she was there, and we were both upset and it just happened," he said, making a face. "I'd wanted to kiss Anzu ever since I was fourteen. But at eighteen I had other things on my mind… then she was there in the classroom after school and…"

Yami face darkened a little, but the flashing lights of the television hid the anger. "Let me guess… first sex, too?"

"Yep. In the locker room," he said, raising his eyebrows at the memory. "Now I think about it, it was really quite disgusting, and extremely porn-movie, but it worked at the time."

"That which we do in desperation?"

"That's the one."

"You were really screwed up when you were eighteen."

He smiled grimly but chose not to say anything, just raising his mug to drink.

"I was twelve."

"_What the hell is with you_?" he screeched, and Yami laughed when he blushed, ducking his head in shame.

"If it makes you feel any better, it was at least a month after my first tongue-kiss," he said, but Yuugi just looked at him seriously.

"You could have your parents arrested for child abuse," he said. "I don't care where you came from, twelve year old kids are not supposed to be doing that."

He shrugged, smiling blandly. "My voice had broken. I was considered a man by my people. Leaders like my father, who I was supposed to be successing, had to be well educated in ways of the world."

"Nnn… I don't know if I'm okay with that," he said slowly, and Yami nodded.

"On the plus side, it was never complete and utter sex until I was fifteen. Before that it was more along the lines of 'touch this, put that there, don't do that, call the girl the next day and avoid the guy for ever after'."

"Oh, that is so wrong," he said, chuckling despite himself.

He grinned, folding one arm behind his head. "First crush?"

"No idea," he said honestly. "I vaguely remember playing tag with a girl and getting really flustered when she held my hand, but I can't remember who she was or how old I was."

"I was seven," he said slowly. "My riding teacher. I thought he was gallant and handsome. Of course, by the time he could see me as anything but a little boy, I had realised that I much preferred being the gallant and handsome one in the relationship and he was old besides."

Yuugi broke out in laughter again, and Yami smiled, proud to make him smile so much. When he calmed down, Yuugi was still grinning, and he leaned into his chair with a curious look in his eyes. "I take it your culture never had the male-female preference?"

"Nah. Well, yes, but… It was considered that men and women wed; purely for child bearing purposes. Outside that you could do whatever you liked. As long as you did it behind closed doors."

Yuugi raised an eyebrow, but otherwise just smiled, thinking about his next question. "Alright… first… The first time you knew you were in love."

Yami remained silent for a few moments, sipping his coffee, avoiding his gaze with a soft smile. "It doesn't seem that long ago to me, but… six years ago."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It was one of those completely and utterly ordinary days… I had never really talked to this boy much before. Not in a casual conversation kind of way. He was playing his playstation, and telling me about why Bruce Ryu had an advantage over The Immovable Mountain in his game… and he looked at me… and all he did was smile. And I realised that I never wanted to leave that moment. I never wanted to leave him ever again."

He raised his eyes up to meet Yuugi's gaze, and they both fell silent, lost in Yami's memory.

"But you did," murmured Yuugi.

"I had to. For his sake, for my sake… I would've damned it all and stayed, but he wanted me to be happy, and he thought that helping me move on would make me happy." He lowered his eyes back to his mug, then sighed and set it aside. "I thought he wanted me to leave. I just wanted to make him happy."

Yuugi nodded, turning his mug through his hands. "I didn't know until the person was gone. As in never coming back. I was walking to school with my friends and looked up at the sky and… and I realised that I would give up my life just to see him one more time."

There was a pause as Yami stared at him, then very slowly uncurled himself from his blanket, one foot hitting the floor, the opposite hand bracing itself on the arm of his chair. "Wh- who was it, do you mind me asking?"

He smiled sadly, his eyes still on his drink. "His name was Atemu."

The television sparked and shut off with the zap of a blackout, sending them into darkness. Yuugi blinked, his eyes completely unadjusted as he stared around. "What –"

"Yuugi?"

He blinked again, turning toward the sound. Yami's voice sounded much closer. "Yami? Something…" He trailed off as his mug was removed from his hands, a spicy scent and the feeling of closeness spreading over his torso. The armchair dipped under the weight of another person, and a strong, cool arm fell across his front. He could just make out Yami's eyes, almost luminous in the dark light, bare inches from his face.

"Yuugi," he repeated quietly.

"M- mm?"

"I like you a lot," he whispered, and Yuugi blushed despite himself, unconsciously reaching up to brush a lock of hair behind his ear.

"I already told you I don't do the whole consolidated one-person dating thing."

Yami's hand brushed over his cheek—all his skin was so cold, Yuugi wanted to just hold him and keep him warm—and slowly moved around to cup the back of his neck. "Because of Kaiba?"

"No…"

"Then why?"

He blushed again, ducking his head as if the darkness still showed his face. "It's not fair to pretend."

"Pretend?"

"That I'm not just biding my time until I see him again."

"Atemu?"

He nodded silently, and Yami hesitated, considering that.

"Yuugi?"

"Mm?" he asked, lifting his head to meet the almost glowing eyes, but was given no time to react as Yami suddenly pushed forward, capturing Yuugi's lips in his own. He remained frozen for a moment, not moving as Yami's arms slid around his waist, pulling him closer as he pushed down deeper. But then he registered the warmth spreading from his lips, the feeling that was making him feel so… _something_ that before he knew it, one of his hands was buried in Yami's hair, the other curled around his shoulders as he began to kiss him back.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

_**Future Tense – Chapter Five**_

**DISCLAIMER**: So RtR is deleted. That's three stories that have been. Not by me, but by ffdn, but I won't be reposting, just because I'm a pacifist/quitter. Sorry, guys.

* * *

He had never spent much time in this bedroom for anything other than sleep, but for the first time in his life, Yuugi was content to just continue lying in his bed, gazing at his new 'lover' with a content smile. His hand rose to brush over Yami's cheek, and Yami closed his eyes in contentment before turning to kiss the gentle fingers.

He smiled, shifting closer to rest his head on Yami's shoulder. "I had a really great time tonight, Yami."

"I should hope so," he murmured, smirking when Yuugi pushed his chest in weary annoyance.

"I mean it," he said. "I really did have fun."

"Even cooking for me?"

"Even cooking for you," he confirmed, smiling tiredly. Yami put his free arm around Yuugi's back, pulling him close, and the smaller man sighed. "I don't know what it is about you, Yami… We only met last week, but I feel like I've known you forever."

"Yeah…"

"When I'm with you… I dunno, I just… forget everything else," Yuugi mumbled, and Yami glanced down at him with a smile. "I just feel so right. Right about being screwed up, and stupid, and whatever else… I feel like all of that's okay."

"And it is," he said quietly. "You, everything about you… you're perfect."

"Hm." Yuugi smiled as he snuggled down into Yami's chest. "You know… you still remind of that person I used to know. Only he was a jerk, so you're better."

Yami rolled his eyes at the irony but said nothing, just lay his head down on the pillow.

"I really like you, Yami," mumbled Yuugi, already half-asleep.

"Yeah," breathed Yami, closing his eyes. "But not how I need you…"

"Ohh… I dunno… the other…"

Yami's eyes opened again, his head rising off the pillow in surprise, but Yuugi's breathing had deepened into sleep, so he just bit his lip and lay his head back down.

* * *

Waking up was hard.

Yami sighed, trying to ignore the fact he was awake by curling further around his pillow, but his mind had already begun functioning at its normal rate, ringing up possibilities and problems with his day as it was.

He knew it was an annoying habit he had inherited from his father, encouraged by his tutors, but that didn't make it any more enjoyable. From the moment he woke up, he would remember everything that had happened the day before, and then organise it into lists of things that were no longer important, what needed to be tended to immediately, and what could wait. There was also a small section of his mind that tallied 'what could wait' into 'what can really wait' and 'what you're procrastinating about doing'.

Unfortunately, it was this last list that brought itself to the forefront of his mind, and he frowned as it immediately began bothering him.

He had to tell Yuugi the truth.

A reminder of last night rang in his mind, and he grimaced, turning his head further into the pillow. He shouldn't have let that happen. He should have controlled himself. Now he had just put himself into an even worse position than he was to start with, and that was just…

The problem was the possibilities brought about by choice and circumstance. If he had returned to life mere days or weeks after leaving, as he thought he had at first, then there would be no problem. Yuugi would still be young and impulsive and naïve and Sekhmet was he going to hurt the Ishtahls for not bringing him back then…! He took a deep, calming breath, and started again. Yuugi would not have yet closed himself off from everyone, and there would be no question as to whether he would accept Yami back in his life forever.

Not to mention, five years of relative normality was nothing compared to two years of darkness. Now there was the possibility that the potential return of the darkness would be too terrifying a concept for Yuugi to accept.

All that without contemplating how bad it looked for him to have lied to Yuugi for no good reason the past week.

He slowly opened his eyes, frowning at his pillow in concern.

Thankfully, a loud, obnoxious beep cut through his musings, quickly followed by a polytone version of the song Ryou had programmed into his mobile phone. Yami jerked up, looking around for a moment before crawling over to the side of the bed.

He quickly found his mobile, hidden in his pants pocket next to one of Yuugi's socks, and pulled it up to his ear. "What."

"Hello and good morning to you too, sunshine!" chirped Bakura's voice, and Yami grunted, collapsing back down onto the bed.

"You bastard, do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Yep. Seven thirty. Figured you'd be in the middle of morning-after sex and thought I should interrupt before the critics gave up on your midget's acting skills."

"Fuck you," he replied lazily. "What do you want?"

"Wanted to know if I could finally tell my other half that his saviour is back and move on to relieving Domino City of its underappreciated goods," he said calmly. "Because there's a nice sparkly in town that the owner of the store really doesn't need the profits of."

Yami sighed, dragging up his free hand to rub his eyes. It was too early for this. "No…"

"No as in don't do the city a favour or don't proclaim myself saviour?"

"Well, hopefully both, but I highly doubt I can keep a son of a bitch like yourself from honest work," he muttered. "Now go to hell and quit bugging me while I figure out how I'm going to do this."

"Your majesty, in case you didn't notice, we're on a schedule here," said Bakura, impatience finally biting through his tone. "We have fuck all time—four days, to be precise—before we have to go back. I don't give a shit what you do, but I am staying with my rabbit. So let's keep this straight and simple, 'kay? You tell the midget the truth before tomorrow, because that's when my rabbit's gonna know by, and I got this funny feeling he's a bit of a blabber mouth."

"Bakura! Don't you fucking dare!"

"Screw you. I'm not one of your flunky friends. Be grateful I've given you this long. You can go to hell, but there is no way I'm gonna just because you're a coward."

And with that, he hung up. Yami sighed, falling into the bed again. "Shit!"

He continued to lie there for a few moments, then pushed himself up onto his elbows, looking around the bedroom. Yuugi was nowhere in sight, but considering that this was his house, he had a feeling that wasn't as bad an omen as it normally would have been.

Deciding to take the open ensuite as an invitation, Yami rolled out of bed and headed over. He would find Yuugi after he had cleaned himself up.

* * *

The sunlight in the kitchen was a little too bright compared to the dim bedroom and hallway, so Yami had to wince as he leaned around the doorway, but he soon smiled when he saw Yuugi. He was leaning against the kitchen counter, holding his ungelled hair back with both hands to reveal a thin line of blonde regrowth around his forehead. He was only wearing a pair of black pants that could have been his grandfather's and a long coat that may have been a jacket on the Kaiba brothers, but it left his chest bare, so Yami found he was quite happy with it.

He was staring into the middle distance near a table leg, his eyes narrowed and thoughtful. He obviously wasn't going to notice Yami until he spoke, so he hesitated before murmuring, "Yo."

Yuugi flinched, his hands sliding down his neck as he looked around at Yami. He blinked once before smiling. "Morning. I uh… I'm making tea, you want some?"

He was silent a moment, his eyes sliding over the copper kettle on the stove. "What kind?"

"Oh, uh… green, actually," he said, and smiled guiltily. "It helps me think and calm down and… stuff."

"Green is good," he said. "I'll have some too, thanks."

He nodded, smiling again as he leaned over to reignite the flame beneath the kettle. Yami let out a silent breath, remembering the blackout last night as Yuugi barely avoided burning his fingers on the match. They fell silent as it began bubbling, and Yuugi pushed off the counter to collect some cups. Yami tapped his fingers on the doorframe, unsure as to whether this kind of silence was normal for modern morning-afters.

"Are you alright?" he asked finally. "You look…"

"Like shit?" he finished, and chuckled as he shook his head. "No, it's just… I've been having some weird dreams lately, and last night's was… And we're still blacked out," he added, then looked at him in silent return of the question.

"Oh, I'm very, very good," he said, smirking as he pushed off the doorframe. Deciding to make up for whatever the dream had been, he strode over to stand behind Yuugi, wrapping him up in a bear hug and playfully kissing his jaw. Yuugi laughed, bending his head out of reach, but didn't pull away. Yami hummed in his throat, gently rocking his weight in a soothing waver. "I had a beautiful night last night, and I woke up to find myself in a beautiful house with a beautiful man making me tea. I think that generally means _life _is beautiful."

"And I think it means you're weird," he informed him, then leant his head back to meet Yami's lips in a soft kiss. "But don't get too happy. I have to kick you out soon – work calls."

"You ever think maybe you work too much?"

He hesitated, then smiled, laughing in confusion. "Actually… yes. This morning. It was… a strange revelation," he said seriously, and Yami smiled, kissing him again in consolation.

"What time do you get off work?" he asked, shifting to lick and nibble at the skin beneath Yuugi's jaw.

"I only have a few reports to do… I can get out at six, if I have reason to… Why?" he asked, closing his eyes at the sensations Yami was creating. "You going to stalk me again?"

"Not if I don't have to. Make me dinner again tonight?"

"No," he said, and Yami laughed, squeezing him once before letting him go. Yuugi set about making tea, and so Yami took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Do you have time for breakfast, then?"

"Hm?"

"_My _dreams involved strawberry pancakes," he said, smiling as Yuugi glanced back at him in confused interest. "I can even make them, if you have the time."

"Mm… they do sound nice, but no. I have a breakfast meeting," he said. "Next time, sure. Do it on a Sunday and we'll make it a date."

"A date, huh?" He grinned, leaning on the table. "This mean you're my boyfriend, now?"

"What?" Yuugi gasped in mock horror, then smiled. "But seriously, I keep telling you I don't do that."

"Yeah, A- because of the guy, I know…" He hesitated again, waiting until Yuugi had given him his cup of tea and sat down opposite before leaning forward to meet his gaze. "Actually, about that… there's something I have to tell you."

"About what?"

"About why you and I can't… do that whole dating thing," He paused again, his teeth clenching in sudden insight. The story about Yuugi beating up the game shop with a crowbar metamorphed in his head to become Yuugi beating him up with that dented copper kettle. After all, if you looked at it from one perspective, Yuugi's other self had spent the last week lying to him for no good reason at all, basically seducing him in the process. From that very same point of view, it could be seen that he had just been using Yuugi this whole time to get what he wanted.

Even the old Yuugi would have been slightly irritated by that one.

He looked down at his tea, frowning at the single stick floating in the middle of his cup, and picked it out as he tried to remember whether that was a good sign or not. "Alright. I need to tell you. Yuugi, I'm –"

"I'm home!" called a familiar voice. "Yuug', you still here?"

"Kitchen!" he called back, glancing at Yami apologetically as the door in the entrance hall slammed.

Jounouchi took a few seconds, but he eventually swung into the room, only having to glance at Yami twice before accepting his presence. "Morning. I'm after coffee, is there any in the house?"

"Yeah, but the electricity's out," he said, pointing to a cupboard behind him.

"Huh? Why?"

"Dunno. It's just our house, but I won't be able to play with the wiring until pretty late tonight."

"Shit, man…"

"Mm. No Mai-san?"

"Nah, she woke up with an urge to shop," he said vaguely, heading over to the kettle. "And since I'm gonna be doing stuff in town all day, I figured I should get out while the getting's good. You heading out soon?"

"I'll start getting ready when I'm finished this," he said, and turned back to Yami. "What are you doing today?"

"I don't know," he confessed, sitting back in tired resignation. "Maybe I should just go home and think things through."

Yuugi frowned at him worriedly, but Jounouchi spun around to grin before they could continue. "Hey! If you've got nothing to do today, how about you hang out with me?" He leant over Yuugi's hair with practiced ease to nod at Yami encouragingly. "I've got a heap of months-late errands to run and I hate walking around town by myself. What d'you say? I can give you all the inside goss on what turns Yuugi on!"

"Jounouch-kun!" cried Yuugi, blushing bright red.

"C'mon, man, whaddaya say? Three hours, then I'll let you go," he promised, but Yami just gazed back at him in confusion.

Before last night, Jounouchi had glared at him every single time they met, but suddenly everything was fine? He paused, wondering if that strange look he had developed when he and Yuugi spoke last night had anything to do with it. Still, to spend an entire day with a former best friend turned defensive wannabe-parental-figure?

But then… that would make Jounouchi the perfect test subject for the truth. If Yami could get an aggressive Jounouchi to accept him, then Yuugi would be easy. He hesitated again, then smiled and nodded.

"Let's go."

* * *

"Man, it's such a great day! Hey, let's eat outside so I can watch the girls go past in their short skirts!"

Yami raised an eyebrow, giving Jounouchi a sideways glance. The first half an hour had been hard, but after a full three hours, the day had filled with laughter and playful teasing from Jounouchi, which made Yami feel more at ease than he had all week. He had been the one to suggest lunch – it would be the perfect opportunity to tell him the truth, and if he didn't believe him, then not even Jounouchi could make too big a scene in public.

"Aren't you dating Mai Kujaku?"

"Two things, Myoujin," he said happily, as he led the way into a garden teahouse. "One, she's too old for us to be dating. Two, if I don't look at other girls, then where am I supposed to go for love when she gets pissed off?"

Yami smirked, absently wondering whether the looking helped her temper any, but decided not to say anything. The answer was more amusing in his head. He shoved his hands in his pockets, remaining silent until they were shown to a table near the footpath, and then immersed himself in the menu while thinking up exactly how to go about reintroducing himself. He had to make sure Jounouchi would believe him, but not panic. So the direct approach like with the Kaiba brothers would be… disastrous. Maybe if he shocked him a little, then explained the rest slowly. But how?

"Na, Myoujin. You know anything about games? Cards?"

He blinked, looking up over his menu to find Jounouchi gazing at him. He paused, then nodded. "Yes," he said, and turned back to the menu. "What are you getting?"

"Thinking the pizza fingers," he said vaguely, apparently still interested in his question. "You play much?"

"Not for a while," His eyes caught the words chicken salad and jumped on it. At least he knew what he was in for with that.

"Are you good?"

He shrugged distractedly, busy with his own thoughts, but that only made Jounouchi grin. "You play Duel Monsters?"

Yami opened his mouth to give another quick affirmative, then stopped. He had been under the impression none of the group played anymore. "Duel Monsters? _You _play that?"

"Sure, it's still one of the main staples of casino cruise gaming," he said, and smirked as he rolled up his sleeve to reveal a strange blue armband. "I've been wanting to show this off to someone ever since I got back, but Yuugi and Duel Monsters don't mix, and Mai's already got one. It's the latest in Kaiba Corp. Duel Disk technology."

Yami frowned, setting his menu aside as he leaned forward to peer at it. "That's a Duel Disk?"

"Mm… kind of. It's a holographic mat, made especially for casino dealers," he explained, and pushed the table settings aside before unwrapping the armband. He spread it across the table. "We all have them, so all we need is a flat surface and there you go – instant casino table. Here, I'll show you."

He pulled a deck of Duel Monster cards from his breast pocket, quickly shuffled, then drew his first card to place on the mat. The standard card-outlining lights flashed, and a ten-centimetre tall Barbarian One popped up to stand on top of the card.

"Kaiba said one day he wants to market it to all Duelists over the age of eighteen," he continued, folding his arms behind his plate as he gazed at the hologram, "so we don't look like such total idiots carrying around the big flashy Duel Disks. But right now it's too expensive, so I get to be cool and unique."

"Katsuya Jounouchi… ranked fourth in Battle City and a semi-finalist in the KC Grand Prix," mused Yami. "I thought you would have gotten rid of the Barbarian cards by now."

"Aw, hell no, man!" He grinned, sweeping up his card and mat as the waiter came close. "I have nine cards that I'm never gonna get rid of, no matter how crappy everyone else says they are."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." He paused so they could place their orders, then returned to his deck, pulling out eight more cards to lay out on the table. "Barbarian One and Two – they're weak, but they're a symbol of my buddy Honda. And here, these three I won in Battle City from three of the best Duelists I ever faced. Red Eyes Black Dragon – my number one card. Flame Swordsman's kinda my symbol, and I ain't ever gettin' rid of him. And this… this is the Time Wizard and Baby Dragon. Yuugi gave them to me right before Duelist Kingdom. They're everything we stand… well… everything we used to stand for," he corrected quietly, the smile slipping for a moment before he laughed, shooting up in his chair to rub the back of his head. "It's stupid, I know, but I ain't ever losing any of these."

"That's good, Jounouch-kun," he said, smiling warmly. "You really care about the cards – they'll show their appreciation for that whenever you duel."

"Yeah… that's what I've always figured," he said, nodding. "What about you? You duel? Do you have your deck on you?"

He hesitated, then smirked and nodded silently. This was going too well for him to pass up the opportunity.

Jounouchi grinned, leaning further over the table. "Yeah? Awesome! We can have a duel after lunch, what do you say?"

"Alright… but since you've shown me your key cards, I think it's only fair you see my deck too, don't you?" he asked quietly, and Jounouchi laughed.

"Hey, when you're right, you're right! Hand 'em over!"

He silently narrowed his eyes, jerking his chin toward the table. Jounouchi raised his eyebrows, and Yami looked down at his hand, causing Jounouchi to follow his gaze. A moment passed in silence, both of them staring at Yami's fingers, hovering an inch above the table, before the shadow beneath them began to deepen. Jounouchi furrowed his brow and leaned closer, his eyes widening as the shadow seemed to rise up out of the table, forming the shape of a full deck of cards. He stared up at Yami for an instant, but looked back in time to see the shadows retract, leaving a simple stack of Duel Monster cards. He sat back, bracing his hands on the table as his eyes rose to glare at the man opposite.

"Who the fuck are you?"

Yami's smirk had faded, leaving him expressionless as he pushed the deck toward Jounouchi.

"Tell me!" he snapped. "What do you want with Yuugi? We ain't got nothing to do with any of that dark stuff anymore."

His eyes flickered toward the deck, and Jounouchi scowled, snatching it up off the table. He continued to glare at him for a second, then pulled out the top card, completely unprepared for the image that greeted him. He faultered, glancing up at Yami again. "Black Magician…?"

Yami sat back in his chair, crossing his legs as he slid into an unconsciously regal pose. Jounouchi continued to flip through the cards, his eyes widening with each card, until he across—

"Kuribo…"

"Kaiba always said there was no other serious Duelist who kept it in his deck," murmured Yami, and Jounouchi stared at him, his breathing quickly losing all signs of stability.

"You… no. No, no, you're just imitating," he said harshly. "Everyone knows Yuugi used Kuribo and Black Magician. You –"

"Next card, Jounouch-kun," he said quietly, but Jounouchi shook his head.

"No. No, this isn't real. If you think this is gonna make Yuugi do something or believe or…!"

"Next _card_, Jounouch-kun."

He continued to shake his head, and so Yami stood up, leaning over the table to carefully pull Kuribo out and reveal the next card. Jounouchi made a very small noise in the back of his throat, shaking as he stared at it.

"O- Osi- Osiris… B- but…"

"That's right, Jounouchi," he whispered. "It's me."

"Shit," he breathed, and Atemu's deck slid from his slack fingers.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

_**Future Tense – Chapter 6**_

**DISCLAIMER**: Since someone asked… Ra is Ra. Obelisk is Obelisk. Osiris no tenkuryu got changed to Slifer the Sky Dragon because Osiris was the Egyptian God of the Afterlife and/or a serious metaphor for Atemu and who knows why 4Kids decided their producer needed props. But apparently he did. Rock on Slifer!

* * *

"Look at the next card, Jounouch-kun," Yami insisted, but Jounouchi continued to shake his head, stubborn.

"No. No, this is some kind of trick," he snapped, his eyes narrowing even further as Yami slowly rose up from his seat. "If you think this is going to… Yuugi isn't going to fall for it. This isn't His deck."

"Jounouchi," he said gently, and leaned over the table to take hold of the top card. "Look at the next card."

Jounouchi's eyes fell to the deck, and Yami drew back, revealing a red rectangle of cardboard. Jounouchi croaked, his breath struggling to move past his Adam's apple. "Th- this is… Osiris…"

"That's right, Jounouchi," he said quietly, sitting back down. "That's my deck."

Jounouchi stared at him, visibly quivering. "B- but…"

"It's me," he whispered, and the deck slipped from Jounouchi's slack fingers. Without thinking, Yami curled his hand, calling on the shadows to catch the cards before they hit the ground and reappear beneath his palm. Jounouchi didn't notice, just staring blankly.

"Shit," he breathed, and Yami sat back, unconsciously crossing his arms and legs in a regal pose. It was a defensive habit, one only Yuugi had ever seemed to notice, but he continued to meet Jounouchi's gaze, ready for any kind of response.

There was a long pause, and Jounouchi swore again, his hand rising to tangle through his hair in shock. Almost a minute passed in silence, before, "No offence, but you look fucking different."

He smirked, shrugging. "Combination of things… this is how I would have looked if I had lived, I came back from the afterlife, the shadows formed every particle of my being… mainly it's just that you're used to seeing a double of Yuugi, which I am clearly not…"

"No shit," he said breathlessly, falling back in his chair. "No wonder Yuugi was acting so happy around you…" He frowned, staring blankly at the tabletop while he considered things. "Yuugi… Does Yuugi know?"

"Mm-mm."

"Why not?"

He sighed, choosing to look out across the street rather than answer straight away. Jounouchi had almost given up on him answering when he took a sharp, steadying breath. "Because… because I had no idea five years had passed. Because I didn't know why they brought me back. Because I wasn't expecting my aibou to have turned into… into Yuugi." He chewed the inside of his lip for a second, then turned back to his former friend. "Because the minute I tell him, the clock will begin ticking down the forty-eight hours I have until he either agrees to be with me forever or I… go back to the afterlife. Forever."

Jounouchi's mind was clearly still blown by the fact a three-thousand-year dead pharaoh was sitting opposite him, because it took several seconds for his brow to furrow in confusion. "What?"

"That's the deal," he explained quietly. "Ishizu and Malik were able to bring us back because I and the thief king are technically only half souls. We're nothing but spirits; Yuugi and Ryou are our human halves. Their power is enough to allow us to survive five weeks—sixteen days each—before we have to go back to the afterlife. But if the human halves agree to take on the burden of supporting us in the physical world, then we can stay until the human half's lifespan runs out."

"Until Yuugi dies, you mean."

He nodded. "Which, from what Malik said, will be a lot longer if we're around. They didn't really tell us much – just put us on the aeroplane with connections around Domino."

"Right… so what's the forty-eight hour thing?"

"Well… I'm not certain. It has something to do with the connection the thief and I have with our other halves," he said, and his eyes narrowed for a moment before looking at him again. "I _believe _that at the moment, there is still hope we will be allowed to remain, but the impending rejection after admitting the truth is some kind of strain on our life-force. It's magic, I don't know if it's supposed to make sense," he added vaguely, but Jounouchi began to slowly nod, as if all this did make some kind of sense to his shocked mind.

"So… Bakura is… really… Dark Bakura," he said blankly. "And you, Yami, are really…"

"Dark Yuugi," he finished.

"Atemu," he added, only to flinch as the two street lights on either side of the teahouse suddenly exploded.

Yami sighed heavily, letting his head fall back in annoyance as several people around them screamed. "Yami," he said firmly. "Names were very powerful things in my time. Mine holds the power of the Dark Games, the doorway to Death, one hell of a god and a few other things I couldn't be bothered dealing with."

"But Anzu used to say it all the time –"

"That was just a name; you all still thought of me as the Other Yuugi. When you say it in direct reference to me…" He made a vague gesture at the streetlight. "You've now deprived this store and a few others of electricity for the day."

"Oh… crap…" He continued to stare at Yami for a minute, then suddenly shook his head and stood up. "Let's um… let's get outta here… I… I gotta have a drink. We're breaking into Yuugi's bourbon."

Yami shrugged and stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets as he followed him out of the blacked-out restaurant.

* * *

The office was quiet when he opened the door, the soft tapping of perfectly mechanised keys the only noise. Yuugi continued to type even as his visitor walked over, only glancing up with an absent smile as he sank into one of the chairs opposite.

"The Monster Racer report?"

He nodded, frowning slightly. "It'll be another few weeks before I can collate a complete report, but Mokuba's been on my back about updates, so…"

"I'll talk to him about it. He's been slow on his own work, and you have more important things to worry about."

Yuugi finally paused, pulling his hands away from the keyboard in confusion. "I do?"

"That's right."

He furrowed his brow, closing the laptop with a quick flick of his wrist before turning to face him. "Is something wrong, Seto?"

Kaiba just gazed at him silently for a long moment, then laced his fingers, elbows resting on the arms of his chair in what Yuugi had come to recognise as his nervous expression. He only laced his fingers when something was really bothering him, but Yuugi knew better than to ask. He had to wait if he wanted answers.

"The other day, when that man came to pick you up, Mokuba was… inappropriate," he said finally. "But he raised an important point we must discuss."

"When I was out of the room?"

"Yes." He paused again, lowering his eyes away from the window to meet Yuugi's gaze. "The discussion we had in New York was mentioned. He insinuated that the outcome I understood to have come from our discussion was incorrect. That our agreement was no longer satisfactory."

Yuugi frowned, finding the formal language a little off-putting. Kaiba was clearly uncomfortable about something, and the way he was talking was uncommon for anything but when he was dealing with legal situations he didn't like. Which implied something Yuugi wasn't sure he knew how to react to.

"And now… Yami," he continued. "How much do you know about him?"

"Seto, I don't get it," he said, shifting forward. "You've never had a problem with things like this before. What's changed?"

"Nothing, as of yet. But I thought you should know that even should our agreement…" He paused, his fingers pushing closer together in a rare show of apprehension. "Even should our agreement end, your work at Kaiba Corporation is unflawed. Your position will remain your own."

Yuugi let out a deep breath, absently smoothing back his gelled hair. "What makes you think anything is going to change? And why bring this up now? It's been days since you met Yami."

"I have been considering possibilities," he said simply. "It is a high possibility that circumstances will soon change. I am always prepared."

With that, he stood up, and in one smooth motion he turned on his heel and began walking toward the door. Yuugi stared at his retreating back for a moment before shooting to his feet. "Seto?"

He paused at the door, but said nothing, waiting.

"Or is it 'Seto-sama'?" he asked quietly. "Is that how things are now?"

There was a moment that Yuugi thought he would leave dramatically, without answering, and he spoke softly enough that Yuugi almost thought he imagined it. But it was a quiet, clear statement before Kaiba moved through the door.

"I hope not."

* * *

There was something off.

Yuugi sighed, leaning forward over the steering wheel. Honda had always called him insane for it, but Yuugi preferred to drive to and from work _because _of the traffic jams. They gave him time to work, socialise through his mobile, or even just think. Today it was thinking, and after an hour of staring at the young woman in the next car over, singing along to her radio, he had come to a decision.

Something was definitely Wrong.

Not just with him, the way he had known all week, but in general. There was something strange about the entire world. As if some higher being had picked the Earth out of orbit and turned it on its side.

And it had started exactly fourteen days ago.

His eyes narrowed, fingers tightening on the wheel. He wasn't a superstitious person, but the number fourteen had always bugged him. His father had stopped coming home for the new year when he was fourteen. His grandfather had died fourteen months after he was diagnosed with that goddamn disease. And his mother had gone on 'holiday' fourteen _days _after that.

The other him had left on the fourteenth of December.

It was something about it being two sevens, he was sure of it. Unlucky seven. Twice unlucky.

He sighed, sitting back as he followed the car in front the extra metre it had gained somehow.

Fourteen days ago, Seto, Mokuba and he had been sitting peacefully in the car, going over the minutes of their last meeting, when he had suddenly sneezed. Normally, he wouldn't have thought twice about it, but for some reason, this spurred Mokuba into beginning The Discussion. Mokuba wanted something solid and official. Seto could have cared less. Yuugi made a point of not commenting.

And now, fourteen days later, Seto had all but told him it was over. Done.

The only reason having something to do with Yami Myoujin.

"Yami Myoujin," he murmured, turning his eyes toward girl kareoke again. There was something Wrong about Yami, too. "Yami…"

Maybe it was just his name, but there was something about Yami that automatically put Yuugi off balance. When they shook hands, when he smiled, when he laughed… Yuugi put a hand to his mouth, trying to force himself to concentrate on girl kareoke.

Much as he wanted to, Yuugi decided, he was not going to see Yami for the next few days. Just to be safe.

* * *

The front door slamming open was enough to jolt Jounouchi right out of his alcohol-induced almost-calm, and his glass fell from his fingers to shatter on the kitchen floor. He stared at it blankly, while on the other side of the kitchen Yami got to his feet, eyeing the doorway.

"Yuugi!" screeched a panic-stricken voice. "_Yuugi_!"

Jounouchi looked up, his gaze blurry with shock and slight inebriation as his eyes roamed the kitchen in search of his friend. "Yuugi?"

"Not here, Jounouch-kun," Yami said gently, before he walked over to the doorway. The door to the game shop burst open just as he reached the entrance hall, a wide-eyed Ryou stalking into the room.

"_Yuugi_! YUUGI!"

"He's not here, Ryou," he said calmly. Clearly Ryou had yet to notice him, because as soon as he spoke, the brown eyes snapped to his face, and Ryou promptly managed a strangled gasp and stumbled back against the doorframe. Yami raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

He shook his head vehemently, then leaned over to yank off his shoes. "YUUGI! YUUGI, COME DOWN HERE!"

"He's not here, Ryou," he repeated, irritated with the unwarranted yelling. "What is the matter?"

Before Ryou could even look at him again, however, Bakura stepped up in the doorway behind him, gripping his right arm and wincing. Yami stared at him, and the former tomb robber grimaced. "Turns out you might have been right in waiting," he muttered, only to gasp as Ryou shot him a nasty look.

"_Yuugi, get down here_!" Ryou yelled, still glaring at Bakura.

Yami set his hands on his hips in confused frustration. "I said, he's—"

"—back here," stated another, calmer voice. Yami turned, blinking when he realised Yuugi was standing behind him, keys in one hand and shoes in the other. Behind him, the backdoor was open, the engine to Yuugi's car still ticking. He had obviously heard the shouting and hurried in, but now he was just looking from Ryou's shocked anger to Bakura's pain with a resigned expression.

"Yuugi, you –" Ryou began, but Yuugi cut him off with his keyed hand as he checked his watch.

"Seven thirteen. Fabulous," he muttered, then looked up at Ryou. "Unless you can explain it in less than the thirty seconds it'll take to get to seven fourteen, I don't want to hear it."

Ryou glared at him as well, causing Yuugi to flinch back in surprise. He waited a beat, then swung his arm around to violently point at Bakura, and the taller man croaked, half doubling up in pain. "This – This… _fucker_—" Yuugi and Yami both gaped at the word, "—is a tomb robber!"

Yuugi blinked, but Yami began to quickly pale. "Oh, no…"

"A grave robber? People still do that?" asked Yuugi, but Ryou wasn't finished.

"Not just any tomb robber, he doesn't just raid any tomb!" he screeched, and snatched the bag Bakura had been holding over his shoulder, throwing it down at Yuugi's feet with a crash of whatever was inside. Yami began to back down the hallway, nervously watching as Yuugi knelt down, putting his things aside.

"What is this, Ryou?"

"Oh, you'll know," he said, teeth clenched. "Have a look. See what my 'lover' brought with him from Egypt!"

Yuugi hesitated, then reached out to cautiously pull back the zipper. His expression remained completely blank as he picked up the object lying on top, its golden cones swinging as he shifted his hand to hold it better.

"The Millenium Ring," Jounouchi mumbled, as he appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. He leaned heavily against the doorframe, frowning depressively. "The Millenium Items're back."

Yuugi remained silent, putting down the Ring in order to look through the rest of the bag. They were all there; all seven Millenium Items were resting peacefully side by side, as innocent and dangerous as they always had been, just glowing quietly in the dim light of the evening. He carefully reached down to cradle the familiar weight of the Puzzle in his hands.

"The Millenium Items are supposed to be buried, Yuugi!" snapped Ryou. "The spirits are supposed to be gone! They are not supposed to be back, and they are not supposed to be solid! You told me! You promised me He was gone! You told me I had to move on, and they all told me I had to forget! So what the hell is that, huh? What the hell is going on?"

He didn't answer, just slowly rose up to his feet, eyes still on the Puzzle. Behind him, Yami had his hand on the back door, though whether he was going to close it or just make a run for it, he wasn't quite sure yet.

Yuugi took a deep breath, then paused, looking up at Jounouchi. "You've been drinking," he said quietly. "I can smell it."

He smiled vaguely, nodding. "Yeah. See, I found out about this stuff at lunch," he said tiredly, leaning a little further forward to meet Yuugi's gaze. "This is a problem, Yuugi."

"Yeah," he agreed softly, then turned his head to face Bakura. "Thief? The Dark Bakura?"

He gazed at him for a long moment, then nodded silently. Ryou's eyes widened again, shining brighter as he stumbled back against the wall.

"I wondered how you two were supposed to know Ishizu-san," he murmured, lowering his eyes to the Puzzle. "Guess it would kinda explains everything…"

Yami hesitated, then slowly shut the door, licking his lips as Yuugi's shoulders straightened. "Uh…"

Yuugi looked at him over his shoulder, eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Then that would make you… the other me?"

"That's right," he said quietly, swallowing a nervous breath, "aibou…"

But the endearment did nothing to help calm his nerves. In fact, Yuugi's eyes hardened, his brows meeting as his expression turned cold. "You call me aibou?"

"Ah…"

Too fast for him to see, Yuugi suddenly drew back his arm and bodily pitched the puzzle straight at Yami's head. The former pharaoh cried out, but was saved having to duck by a sudden shooting pain from his shoulder to his gut. He could only croak and bonelessly fall to his knees, gasping for breath. The puzzle hit the door with a heavy thud, saved from shattering by a sudden whirlwind of shadows from around Yami, gently lowering it back to earth.

"A plus on the pitch, Yuug', that was beautiful," Jounouchi said conversationally, but Yuugi ignored him, glaring at the shuddering figure at his backdoor.

"You bastard," he snarled. "You damned son of a bastard whore."

Yami had recovered slightly, but he was still panting, remnants of the pain slicing across his stomach as he pushed himself to his knees. "Aibou… I know, I know you're angry. But –"

"Shut up!" he shouted.

"Aibou –"

"Who are you?" he demanded. "Who the hell are you?"

"Oh, come on, like you don't already know," groaned Bakura. "He's the pharaoh, I'm the thief, you're the aibou, he's the yadounshi, and he's the sidekick, can we move past the fucking introductions?"

Both Yuugi and Ryou spun around, fixing him with the coldest glares they could manage, and Bakura fell back against the wall, grimacing in pain.

"_That _is impossible," snapped Yuugi. "The pharaoh, thief, and everything else that might have come with them went on to the afterlife almost six _years _ago. So obviously, you two are—"

"—reborn," supplied Bakura, only to wince as he was glared at again.

"—sick freaks from Egypt that are after the power of the Items," he finished angrily.

"Aibou," began Yami, flinching when Yuugi turned his glare on him. Pain was still lancing through his chest, but it was becoming easier to take the longer he felt it. "I know it's hard to believe, but it is us. We came back for you."

"Bullshit."

"Please, aibou," he murmured, walking forward. Yuugi leaned away, but didn't otherwise move when Yami stepped up close to his chest, ducking his head and shoulders to meet Yuugi's gaze. "Just listen to me. You have to understand; Ishizu and Malik knew there was something wrong, and they knew we could fix it. They brought us back."

Yuugi just stared at him for a long moment, then suddenly rolled his eyes and turned away, pulling off his glasses in the same movement. He sighed out a long, impatient breath before looking up again. "Let's just suspend reality for a second here and say I believe you. That you are the thief king and… real king," He folded up his glasses and slid them into his blazer pocket, scowling over his shoulder. "You and yours were the cause of all our problems to start with. What could possibly have happened now that you are well and truly dead?"

Yami and Bakura exchanged glances, the thief shrugging blankly, so Yuugi turned back to Yami. "Well?"

"Uh… I have a theory?" he suggested, inwardly wincing at how nervous he sounded. How was it that his aibou had always been able to disintegrate his masks? Yuugi crossed his arms expectantly, and he grimaced. "Although it is possible that the world is going to explode and we have to fix that—"

"Though I wouldn't bother, myself," interjected Bakura.

"—I think the problem is more to do with the fact that we _weren't _here. Or, rather, that… we were, but not… all of us… and the bit that was here is no longer… all there."

Everyone but Jounouchi stared at him blankly, while the blond groaned and waved him off. "Yuugi, I've got this one, let me explain."

"How?" asked Bakura.

"Well, it's like… it's like… cowboys."

They continued to stare at him blankly.

"Cowboys, the drink. You know, milk and whiskey," he said, rolling his hand in explanation. "If you just have the whiskey, then it's just whiskey and kinda hard to drink a lot of. But if you just have the milk, then it's just milk. But when these two left, we were just left with the milk, but no whiskey, and so Malik brought back the whiskey so we didn't all try to get drunk on the milk and just get sick!"

Ryou blinked, then looked at Yuugi sideways. "That shouldn't make so much sense to me, should it?"

"Well, it doesn't make sense to me," snapped Yuugi. "Drunken metaphors aside, we don't need the spirits. Ryou, Malik-kun and I have been going pretty damn well without you. And where's Malik-kun's other character, then, huh? If you two came back, then –"

"Hold on," said Ryou, frowning. "Didn't you once tell me the other Malik-kun wasn't a spirit? That he was… um…"

"Insanity?" suggested Yami, and Ryou frowned again but nodded. Yuugi scowled, so Yami reached out to take his arm, dragging him back in front of him. "But you haven't been okay without us. Aibou, you are nothing like the person you should be. You work constantly, you don't play games unless people pay you, you don't touch puzzles, you're addicted to cigarettes, alcohol, caffeine, and you are sleeping with the bastard _Seto Kaiba_! How is that okay?"

"Kaiba? Really?" asked Bakura. "Oh, midget, that's fucked up."

Yuugi's eyebrow ticked, but he otherwise ignored that. "What I do, who I do, and how I do it is no business of yours. And I don't smoke, or sleep with Seto!"

"Anymore," interjected Jounouchi, and Yuugi puffed out a quick, impatient breath.

"All of that is obviously because you're compensating for something," continued Yami. "And you said it yourself. You are just biding your time until you see 'him' again."

Yuugi glared at him furiously. "Fine. I'm screwed up. I can accept that. But Ryou is fine! How the hell could a psychopathic, homicidal klepto coming into his life possibly benefit him?"

"Because he jumps anything that moves," said Bakura, calmly, "and is a neat freak."

"He was always a neat freak," said Jounouchi, confused.

"Yeah… but not this much."

"Standing right here!" cried Ryou, and Bakura smirked, stepping close enough to put an arm around Ryou's waist. He earned himself an elbow in the gut, but that only made him step out of reach behind him, both arms in place instead. "Get off!"

"Mm… no."

"You…!"

Ryou began struggling to get out of his arms, but Bakura was not the self-proclaimed thief king for nothing. Despite having to both fight back and hold on, he avoided every single possible hurt. Jounouchi raised his eyebrows at the entertainment, but Yuugi and Yami turned back to face one another.

"Aibou, I promise, I am not trying to hurt you." Yami began, his voice quiet under the fight behind them. "You have to believe me. I know I'm different, but we've both changed. You know it's me. You know me."

He raised his hands up to rest on Yuugi's shoulders, thumbs gently rubbing against his collarbones just the way they had at the ceremonial duel. Yuugi looked sideways at his left shoulder, then up under his eyebrows to meet Yami's gaze. It had become well and truly dark as they spoke, but his eyes were still bright and visible. And there was enough there. He felt his shoulders fall, and with them all ability to cope. He swallowed hard, fighting to keep himself standing. "The other… me…?"

"That's right, aibou," he whispered, a bright line of white teeth splitting the darkness. "I'm back."

"The other me… I… you…" He shook his head, closing his eyes to keep back his tears. "Dammit… you… son of a bitch."

Yami's hands clenched on his shoulders, air catching in his throat. "What…?"

"Damn, I just… hate you…" he cried quietly, and raised up his hands to press against Yami's chest, pushing him away as he said, "Get away from me."

But Yami didn't hear him; the pain that was suddenly arcing through his body was too much for him to even cry out. He collapsed on the floor, gasping for air as he clenched his arms around himself. It felt like fire tearing through him as all the opponents he had ever fought taunted him in his mind. His eyes were clenched shut, and the others were still involved in Ryou and Bakura's argument-turned-foreplay, so no one saw Yuugi step around Yami, pick up his shoes and keys, and head out the back door.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

_**Future Tense – Chapter Seven**_

**DISCLAIMER**: Ooh, boys and girls, if you didn't hate me last chapter…

* * *

On television, everyone drinks tea.

When they meet someone for the first time, they sip tea while chatting. When the world is in crisis, they don't freak out and scramble for help, you drink tea and discuss your chances of survival. When they're incredibly upset about something, they drink tea.

Yuugi had the vague idea that the government was trying to brainwash them into being stereotypes, but he could probably deal with that. He didn't mind tea.

As he stared into the offered cup, however, he just couldn't bring himself to actually reach out and drink it. There would be no purpose; no side effects. He wouldn't forget his problems by drinking it, he wouldn't go into a blissful state of apathy.

If anything, his mind would become clearer, and he would be fully capable of realising his situation.

And he knew his real, honest situation sucked, so he wasn't really looking to get there quickly.

"Yuugi…"

The disruption of silence made him look up over his glasses, and a very blurry Mokuba gazed back at him. Yuugi pushed the frames further up his nose, well aware that stress was screwing with his eyesight. "Yeah?"

He didn't seem to have much else to say, and Yuugi puffed out an amused breath. "Alright," he mumbled, and picked up the drink. "May all our lives' crap get over itself. Cheers."

"Cheers," echoed Mokuba, but he didn't touch his own drink, waiting until Yuugi had put down his cup again. "What are you going to do?"

"What I have to," he said wearily, falling back in his chair. "We can but do what we must, or we fail to do all we can."

"Nice quote, but do you know what it means for you?" he asked, and Yuugi shrugged.

"Probably."

They fell silent for a moment, and Mokuba let out a heavy sigh, sliding down over the table with his arms folded under his chin. Yuugi picked up his tea for another drink, then frowned, furrowing his brow. "You knew… how long did you know?"

"Since that day we met him," he mumbled, "when he used dark magic to tell Big Brother to fuck off."

Yuugi considered that for a moment. "That makes sense."

Mokuba shrugged and nodded, and they just sat quietly, listening to the tick of the clock and the echoing footsteps of the servants outside. They didn't look up until the door opened, and Yuugi smiled as Seto Kaiba stepped over the threshold.

"Evening," he greeted quietly, and Kaiba paused, taking in the atmosphere. There was a long pause as he quietly appraised the situation.

"Mokuba," he said finally, "I wanted those reports by six o'clock. It is now nine."

His brother blinked at him a few times, then sat up. "Big Brother –"

"I am prepared to give you an extension until midnight, but I want those reports done," he barked, and Mokuba automatically jumped to his feet, only managing to catch himself and pause when he passed his brother in the doorway.

"Big Brother," he murmured, giving him a long, meaningful look, but it was pointedly ignored. He sighed and bowed his head as he walked out, letting the door swing shut behind him.

There was no changing Seto Kaiba.

Yuugi smiled at his own echoing thought, and brought his fist up to rest his chin on, just watching quietly as Kaiba walked around the table to stand beside him. They gazed at each other for a moment, and Kaiba pulled off his tie with a dramatic sweep of his hand. It was a throwback to his days as a Duelist, where everything had been about the grand gestures and sweeping statements. Normally, Yuugi would have made a teasing comment about it, but tonight it just made his smile fade, and he turned back to his tea as Kaiba sat down in the chair beside him. The clock continued to echo into the silence, and Kaiba reached over to take Yuugi's cup.

"You know," he said quietly, before drinking.

Yuugi shrugged. "Unfortunately for all concerned…" He groaned, sinking down until his head hit the table. "I feel so stupid. It was right there in front of me and I didn't even see it."

"It wasn't so obvious," he pointed out. "His appearance has… altered."

"Who cares about what he looks like, I'm talking about everything else," he said, curling his hands into fists. "No one's ever made me feel like that, I should've known!"

Kaiba didn't answer, just sitting back with his fingers laced. Yuugi blinked back his tears and sat up again, pausing before falling back into his chair. He rolled his head to look around at him. "You know what I have to do, and… I don't know if I can."

"If you are looking for sympathy, look elsewhere," he said coldly, and Yuugi smiled. Kaiba pushed his fingers a little closer together, narrowing his eyes in thought. "If what we wanted to do were ever what needed to be done… then things would be very different in Kaiba Corporation. The public… and private corporations."

Yuugi gazed at him for a long moment, then pushed his chair over just enough to lean his head into Kaiba's arm. "I'm not sure I have another five years, Seto."

There was a pause, and Kaiba pulled his arm out, to slowly wrap it around Yuugi's shoulders. Yuugi clenched his eyes shut, struggling to shut out reality by burying himself in Kaiba's mask.

* * *

"To hell—" The thump of a solid object against wood interjected. "—with the gods."

Bakura calmly rolled his head around to peer through the darkness at the lanky figure slumped several feet away. "Again with the temper tantrum?"

"Bakura," stated Yami, before throwing his head back against the laundry door. "Shut up."

"Normally I wouldn't give a damn about you beating yourself up, but you've been doing this every twenty minutes for the last three hours and it's getting pretty damn boring," he snapped, and on the stairs behind him, Jounouchi had to agree.

However, it was an improvement on the two hours ago where Yami had been less controlled, attempting to beat up the door with his fists, until Jounouchi had sobered out of his slight intoxication enough to object to the dents. Yami had instead dropped to his knees, and just sat there for half an hour before surrendering to temptation and banging his head against the wall. He had slowed down, but still muttered to himself as he did, and it was getting kind of old.

Sitting beside Jounouchi, however, Ryou felt Yami was perfectly justified in hurting himself, and was of the personal opinion Bakura should join him in his masochism.

"Let me just outline our situation for you, pickpocket," snarled Yami, glaring at him through the dark. "Our other halves hate us with a fiery passion—" he threw his head back against the door again, "—my aibou has probably run to that bastard Kaiba's wandering arms—" he kicked his feet up against the opposite wall, "—and the chances of our other halves not only deigning to tolerate us within the next fourty-five hours, let alone agree to be with us for the rest of their gods-abandoned lives, are so slim that I am more willing to think Osiris himself will rise from the underworld and grant us life." He punched his fists into the floor. "So do tell me, oh grand king of thieves, why I should not be upset?"

"Because it's getting us nowhere, and is irritating as all shit," stated Bakura, and Yami growled at him.

"At least he appreciates his situation," muttered Ryou, and Bakura glared up at the darkness above him. He could just make out Ryou's arm threaded through the banister railings.

"What was that, yadounushi-sama?" he asked, sickly sweet. "You sound as if you do not think this is all going to plan."

He scoffed. "Plan? This is your plan? I am not going to spend the rest of my life with you!"

"Please," drawled Bakura. "You _need _me."

He laughed again. "Hold on a second. There are two possibilities here. One, you're a psychopath from Egypt that's after the power of the Millennium Items. Two, you're the voice that screwed up over two years of my life, including the start of my high school career, which, in case you didn't notice, is the reason I couldn't take the pressure of university, and therefore the reason I'm not even a proper bartender!" he cried, waving his arm wildly. "You also screwed up any possible chance I might have had for a proper psychology after my sister died by turning all my friends into _lead figures_! And you think I'm going to let you come back and do the exact same thing now?"

"Ugh," grunted Bakura, though whether it was from pain or frustration he decided not to think about. He stood up, trying not to sway as he turned to glare at his once and future host. "I do not want to do the exact same thing. I'm not in the motherfucking ring, you whiney little girl."

"You are a thief, a murderer and almost responsible for the end of the world," growled Ryou, rolling over to glare back at him. "I know who you are."

"You know a voice and a reputation!"

"I know what you did to those people! I played with those lead figures, I found the Millennium eye, I woke up covered in people's blood, Bakura, I know!" he shouted, but the thief just scoffed.

"The hell you do. Pharaoh-sama here did worse and you still worship the ground he walks on!"

"He never killed! He never hurt people!"

"Bullshit!" he cried. "He set people on fire while they were still alive, he blew people up, he sent them insane! At least my victims still had their minds after I paid my rent! Which is worse, yadounushi, you tell me!"

"This isn't about him!" cried Ryou, though there was a slightly nervous waver in his voice. "You're evil, you tried to destroy the world!"

"I was getting revenge for my village! Again, pharaoh-sama here, his line slaughtered my village, and yet I'm the bad guy?"

"Zorc was going to destroy the world!"

"I didn't care about the world!"

"That's still evil!"

"So _what_?" he yelled, and lunged forward to snatch Ryou's collar and pull his close. "Look, rabbit. I'm done with the Millennium War, I'm not going to revive Zorc, I'm not going to fuck with the world, just you, dammit! All I want is a few pretty things, to keep living and dammit, you're _mine_, you can't do shit like this to me, you understand?"

Silence fell as Ryou stared at him, wide-eyed. He was pressed up against the banister railings, and Bakura was only an inch or two away, breathing hard and panicky as he suddenly realised what he'd said. In his mind, Ryou realised with a start, Bakura had probably just admitted something very personal.

But he was still a bad guy. "Stealing is wrong. I'm not going to help you do bad things."

"Then you'll just have to give me something else to do, won't you?" he snarled angrily, and Ryou's eyes narrowed back into a glare.

"I don't even know your name."

"It's not important."

"Yes it is! You have to have a name!"

"I said it doesn't matter!"

"You're trying to get me to live with you for the next forever, and this is a chance to get me to trust you. Tell me your name!"

"I gave up a three-thousand-year awaited death for you, rabbit!"

"Then you can go back to hell for all I care!"

They paused, glaring at each other for several seconds before Bakura suddenly blinked, his lips spreading into a feral grin. Ryou licked his lips, shifting slightly as Bakura let go of his shirt. He paused, then shoved himself to his feet, scowling at Bakura for one last second before turning to stalk down the stairs, shove on his shoes, and out the door.

The other three stared after him for a moment, and Bakura chuckled darkly. "Damn…" he breathed, then turned on his heel to hurry after.

Jounouchi and Yami just stared as the door swung shut behind him. Jounouchi tilted his head, pointing at the door. "Uh… I might still be drunk, but… those two kinda looked like they were about to…"

Yami said nothing for a long moment, then sobbed out a groan and slammed his head back into the laundry door.

* * *

From the feel of his aching body and pounding head, Yami could feel he hadn't managed to sleep long before someone started shaking his shoulder, forcing him to wake up. For once he was grateful, however, because it meant his mind was too deadened with sleep to begin its usual morning routine.

So he rolled his head up, forcing his eyes open without comprehending why everything hurt when he saw Yuugi leaning over him, expressionless and cold. "Aibou…"

A faint twinge on top of the ache in his chest accompanied a slight furrowing of Yuugi's brow, but otherwise the young man just leaned back. "I fixed the electricity. You can have some coffee before you leave," he said shortly, before turning and walking out of Yami's line of sight.

He didn't move for a moment, struggling to finish waking up, before that last gear slipped into place and everything came rushing back. He flinched in realisation and rolled over, not caring as he literally fell off the couch, just scrambled to his feet.

Around one, Jounouchi had given up on waiting, and just directed Yami to the couch before heading up to bed. Yuugi would come home when he had calmed down, and if Yami wanted to wait up for him, he should at least do it where he wouldn't cause himself any concussions. Eventually, he had fallen into a restless sleep, but according to the clock on the wall it had been much longer than it felt. Apparently it was already nine o'clock.

He still ached, and he could already feel a slight catch to his breath, but the sight of Yuugi back and looking no less frustrated than he had the night before was slightly reassuring. Watching him crouch down behind the television with a toolbox full of potential weapons was less so.

"You came back," he said finally, but Yuugi didn't meet his gaze.

"And you're still here."

He ignored the accusation in his tone, just grabbed the nearest footstool to drag over to the other side of the television. He sat down, carefully watching his aibou, but Yuugi just decided to take the look as a question.

"For a while I thought about renovating the game shop by myself, but the course I took only covered electronics, not house wiring," he said quietly. "Lucky thing, too. Somehow all the wires in here burnt themselves up."

"Yeah, the blackout probably… it…" There was a long pause, and Yami hesitated before leaning forward to ask, "Aibou, is it… okay?"

Finally, Yuugi looked up over the frames of his glasses, his eyes narrowed slightly. "That depends on what you mean," he said, then looked back at his work. "And I'm not your aibou."

"You are."

"I haven't been your aibou since you left my head," he said, and Yami tensed as he switched tools to a sharp pair of pliers. "You shouldn't call someone aibou after they're responsible for your death."

"It wasn't really death," he pointed out, trying and failing to smirk. Yuugi glanced at him again, and he sighed. "Aibou, I… You have to understand, I didn't mean for things to turn out like this. I just wanted things like they were."

"There's that lacking research again," he said wryly. "I never slept with the spirit of my Millennium Puzzle, you know."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah…" He continued working for a moment, then shook his head and put down the tools. "But you know we can't possibly have anything to talk about, either."

He frowned, shifting a little further forward to calm him down. "I know you're upset," he said, spreading his hands in attempted understanding. "But you have to understand, I don't have a lot of time. From the moment you realised who I was, fourty-eight hours began ticking down until I go back to the afterlife. And I won't be coming back this time."

"So why come back at all?" he asked, and Yami frowned.

"What do you mean 'why'? Because you're my aibou. I want to be with you, I always have. You know that. Even before, I told you –"

"Yami," he interrupted loudly, and the pharaoh frowned, leaning back slightly. "Yami… the other me… five years ago, we collected all seven Millennium Items, and the three god cards," he said quietly. "We got your memory back, and you fought me for your right to live. I won. You died."

He gazed at him for a moment, then lowered his gaze. "It wasn't your fault," he said softly, but Yuugi shook his head.

"It was, and you know it. I could've… Seto, and Jounouch-kun, and… anyone could have fought you, and they would've lost. But I beat you. I'm responsible, don't… don't sugar-coat it."

Yami sat back, looking off to the side, and Yuugi picked up his tools to continue working. Neither spoke for several minutes.

"I can stay," Yami said lowly. "If you want me, I can stay."

Yuugi's tools dropped again. "The other me –"

"I know I lied to you, but it was only because –" He cut himself off before he could admit the truth, then pushed himself off the footstool to lean over the television, trying to meet Yuugi's gaze. "The names were wrong. The actions weren't. The feelings were… aibou, I… you… I…"

"You can't come back," whispered Yuugi, flinching when Yami's hands shot forward to take his shoulders again.

"Aibou, please," he said, shaking him slightly. "Please, I… you're everything. You have to know that."

"Stop saying that," he said angrily. "Stop calling me that."

"I want to be with you, I always did. I never lied about that."

"Stop it!" he shouted, throwing his hands off. They both fell back on their haunches, and Yami stared as Yuugi finally met his gaze, his eyes wide with tears. "Stop it, don't tell me you want to be with me, I can't…! Just… don't!"

"Aibou –"

"No! No, just… understand! Remember! You remember I had to gather the items, and help you find your memories, and… I had to duel you to death, and I had to be okay with it because it was what was right, the other me!" he cried, desperate for Yami to understand. "We had to tell ourselves we weren't everything to each other, and I was just me and you were you and there was no need for an 'us' because you had to go!"

Yami stared at him, his eyes widening as he realised what this was really about.

"It took me years to deal with that!" he cried. "It took me years to accept I had done the right thing and that you had to die! But I did it, and I hadn't thought about you once this year and now you come back and tell me it wasn't right – that you not being here wasn't right! And the problem is I know you're wrong! Because everything's been fine the last five years. The world hasn't been covered in darkness, there hasn't been magic, not even a random Sailor Senshi leaping the rooftops, because you, the other me, were dead. We locked the darkness away and it was finished and done and the world was safe as long as you didn't resurrect. We did the right thing, and so I'm okay with it, I'm okay with having been responsible, because it was my duty to save the world by not saving _you_.

"The other me, I do care about you, and I want to have you back so much it hurts, but I can't," he said, suddenly choking on the tears sliding down his cheeks. "And now you're asking me to do it all again. You're making me choose between what I want and what I'm meant to do. Do you understand what that means?"

Yami's shoulders dropped as Yuugi stared at him, and he could feel himself weakening. The pain was beyond him now, all he could see was Yuugi's eyes, large and scared and hurt and suddenly Yami hated himself for causing it. He bit his lip, leaning forward in desperation. "But you have that choice. We can do this, aibou; together, we can keep the darkness back. We can fight it."

"Not forever," he said, his tone deadening as he lowered his head to hide his eyes. "We were lucky to make it through a year and a half. We can't do it forever."

"No, we can, I'll –"

"The hard choices hurt the most, Yami," said Yuugi, slowly pushing himself to his feet. "But we have to make them. And like Ishizu-san said way back when… it's my duty to make this one. The world is too much to risk."

"Aibou…"

"So you can hate me. You can blame me and get angry and hit me and whatever, but I've tried it all over the years and none of it makes a difference on the truth," he said, and slowly raised his head to meet Yami's gaze again. Yami broke a little at how much older he looked than he was supposed to. "I'm going to go upstairs now. And I'm gonna start on that whole hating myself thing, and pray it doesn't last another five years. I'd really appreciate it if you either hit me now or just… weren't here when I came back down."

Yami stared at him for another minute, then slowly lowered his eyes, furrowing his brow as Yuugi walked from the room.

The pain was still too far beyond for him to appreciate, and he slowly pushed himself to his feet. Aside from the vague knowledge he was in enough pain to scream, he was aware that there was something building up inside of him that he hadn't felt since the first few weeks that his puzzle was first solved.

Yuugi wanted him back. He should have been able to live, but the world…

He clenched his fist, jerkily walking out to the entrance hall. He managed to fumble his way into his boots, not even noticing that his cheek was twitching or that his arms were trembling in very tightly restrained emotion.

It was for the world. The greater good. The sake of everything.

It was a matter of every single living thing of this planet versus him alone. His restored life… his aibou's safety and happiness… weighed against the world.

It made perfect sense. It was logical. It was the right thing to do.

His boots hit the pavement outside the grey brick wall, and every single piece of glass lining Uno Road suddenly shattered, showering the screaming people with tiny shards that weren't enough to kill but more than enough to slice and hurt.

And Yami turned, and kept walking back toward his flat.

For the sake of the world.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

_**Future Tense – Chapter 8**_

* * *

"… emergency flood warning has been broadcast over the city. Although evacuation is not yet declared, citizens are advised to stay inside their homes and prepare for flood conditions. Any ground level –"

Bakura reached over and flicked the radio off, but Ryou ignored his pensive expression, smiling in contentment as he ran his fingers through the short jagged spikes of Bakura's hair. Basking in the afterglow of a morning that had made him feel nothing short of alive, Ryou couldn't find the explosive lightning that threatening. The rain pelting against his window just made him feel luckier to be where he was.

Bakura, however, was getting worried. He knew dark power when he sensed it, and he wasn't sure why. If Ryou had accepted him—the _acknowledged _thief and murderer of the Millennium war—then what could have possibly gone wrong with the pharaoh?

Whatever it was, he thought to himself as he wrapped his arms tighter around Ryou's waist, it was very bad.

In theory, Ishizu should have realised what had happened and set out for Domino by now, so they could complete the ceremony. But in weather like this, it was unlikely a jet pilot would be fool enough to try and land. Although the violent storm had come on only a matter of hours ago, Bakura wasn't sure whether there would have been enough time for the Ishtahls to make it before all modes of transport in and out of the city were cut off.

He lay his cheek back against Ryou's ribs, lowering his eyes in thought.

If the living death ceremony was still incomplete before seven tomorrow night, then he would go back to the afterlife, whether Ryou wanted him or not.

He frowned, turning his head to kiss the bare skin beneath his cheek as he inwardly damned the pharaoh his incompetence.

* * *

Malik gazed out the window for another long, lingering moment, then sighed and turned back to the room at large, letting the curtain swing shut behind him. Although they had managed to get to Domino before the storm had really hit, they were still hours too late. He shrugged, grimacing at his sister.

Ishizu met his gaze, but kept her expression carefully blank as she turned back to the pharaoh. Yami had set himself up on the couch, both knees up and elbows resting on them, his hands hiding his face, but no one needed to see him to know how he was feeling. The weather outside was more than enough.

"Pharaoh," she began gently, "we did consider this as a possibility."

A flash of lightning, followed by a cracking roll of thunder, made Malik lean away from the window.

"Perhaps the chosen one is being reactionary," she continued. "To have been alone so long, and then to suddenly be presented with this must be… perhaps if you go back and speak with him now he has calmed down…"

Even Rishid flinched at the resulting explosion. After rising from his panicked half-crouch, Malik peeked through the curtains, paling at the tree that had just been reduced to flaming debris on the other side of the street. He quickly turned away from the window, his eyes wide and scared.

"He must understand the truth, my pharaoh," continued Ishizu, ignoring Malik's gesturing for her to stop. "If he does not understand the risks involved in him staying as he is; the risks to health, sanity –"

"You think he cares?" snapped Yami, and Ishizu straightened slightly.

Malik began edging away from the window, afraid of what might be struck by lightning next, but Ishizu was still and stoic.

"You don't get it," he spat, shifting one leg to glare at her. "He made his choice _after _thinking about all the consequences."

"You believe so?" she asked quietly, and his glare darkened even further.

"Yeah. And it's your fault."

She said nothing, her shoulders straightening defensively, but he continued to glare, and her resolve began to waver. She had spent years staring into the face of a bleak future, never flinching, always searching through it and playing her part as fate predicted. She was not afraid of fear. But eventually, the pure darkness of Yami's anger became too much, and she lowered her gaze.

"Might I enquire as to how?"

"You told him –!" He cut himself off, and Malik glanced at the curtains as the sound of the wind lessened ever so slightly, only to pick up again a second later. "He's a world saviour. It's his duty, as the chosen one who solved the Millennium Puzzle, to save the world from the darkness."

There was a pause as that sunk in, before Malik raised a curious finger. "But—" He hesitated as Yami's glare flashed around to him. "Sorry… but if he is a… one of those… then shouldn't he live to… keep saving the world?"

Yami scoffed, glaring off to the side instead. "No. World saviours give up their lives, everything they have, for the sake of the world," he said darkly. "I did. Now he is. For the sake of the fucking world…"

They fell silent for a long minute, before Yami's head ducked and another explosion rattled the windows. Half hunched, Malik surrendered all masks of confidence and hurried over to Rishid's side. His foster brother lay a calming hand on his shoulder, but still eyed the window warily.

"And I can't even argue with him," growled Yami, his voice tightening as he began to rapidly blink. "I can't argue with him because I started this. To save the world, I broke myself apart. I made this choice three thousand years ago… I did this, it's…"

He continued to glare for several seconds, then quickly shook his head, trying to stay still, but he couldn't. Rather than let them see him break down, Yami shoved himself to his feet and spun around, marching out of the room and down the hall to his bedroom. They all flinched as the door slammed, the utter humanity of the sound somehow hitting harder than anything his dark magic could do.

Ishizu gazed down at the floor, her hands slowly twisting their way into her skirt, and Malik sighed, stepping away from Rishid with his hands on his hips. "Now what? We talk to Yuugi-kun?"

"The chosen one made his decision," Ishizu said softly. "We cannot change it."

"Why the hell not?" he demanded. "We can't just sit around, waiting for time to run out! We have to do something!"

"And we shall. We must find the child of Zorc," she said, suddenly all business as she stood up. "We can assume he has been given sanctuary in the human world, and we must perform the ceremony of unsummoning."

"Well, yeah, but that'll take like five minutes," said Malik, waving it off dismissively. "Look Bakura-kun up in the phone book, I'm talking about the real problem here!"

"We must take time to explain the changes this development has made," Rishid pointed out. "The child of Zorc will no longer have his powers if the pharaoh does not revive. And, without the chosen one's energy to aid the transition, Ryou Bakura must undertake a new burden to support the thief's energy."

Ishizu nodded, and Malik scowled. "No, I mean… we can't let this happen. After everything Yuugi-kun and the pharaoh did for us, we have to help them! It's not right to just stand by while this happens!"

"Sometimes, Malik-sama, what is right is not what must be done," said Rishid. "You know this."

"But –"

"We are but tomb keepers, little brother," said Ishizu. "We must accept that which fate gives us."

"No, I can't accept that," he said firmly, clenching his fists. "Fate doesn't mean anything – there is no set Future."

"We are tomb keepers," she repeated. "We are bound by the fate of the Ishtahls. Yuugi Mutou is bound by the fate of the chosen one."

"We all gave up on fate in Battle City!" he cried, spinning around to stare at her. "Not even the Millennium Tauk can predict the future! Fate is made to be broken!"

"Malik!" she shouted, and he flinched. She stared at him, desperate for his understanding. "Malik, Yuugi is right. The darkness must be kept at bay. Whether that means the final death of our pharaoh, or the pain of our chosen one, it must be done. The darkness cannot be allowed to return. Have you forgotten so easily what it did to us? To you?"

"I'm never gonna forget that," he replied darkly, and she stepped forward, gazing up at him with sad eyes.

"So why do you fight this?" she whispered. "The darkness must be destroyed, and the pharaoh must die. His other half will soon join him, and we must hope that will be enough to put his soul to rest. The darkness will be gone, and that is the end that all touched by the Millennium Items pray for."

He glared at her for a long moment, then shook his head and turned away, his hands on his hips as he walked back to the window. For all her research and time with the Millennium Tauk, Ishizu knew nothing about darkness. She would never understand.

"Ishizu-sama, we should attempt to find Ryou Bakura and the thief," said Rishid, forcing her to turn away from Malik. "It will take time to prepare the ceremony, and no doubt the pharaoh will wish to… return earlier than need be."

"Yes, and that will be another ceremony," she agreed quietly.

"We should talk to Yuugi-kun," said Malik.

"Rishid and I will return soon," said Ishizu, ignoring him. "You should stay here in case the pharaoh needs anything. Call if you need help."

"Whatever," he said darkly.

The other two exchanged glances, but Rishid just let out a soft breath and took Ishizu's shoulders, leading her out the door. Malik remained still, watching for them to appear on the deserted sidewalk for the mad dash to the car.

He rubbed at his eye, the other rolling up to look at the sky.

"You can't destroy darkness… getting rid of the physical manifestation won't do anything," he murmured, and pushed off the window to walk over to the couch. He didn't sit down, just looked at it for a long moment.

It was all well and good to get rid of the physical evidence, make pretty speeches and say everything was fine, but there was always going to be darkness. His hatred and fear hadn't gone away with his other personality. Been redirected, maybe, but they were still there.

A few months after Battle City, he had called Yuugi and talked to him about it… thought maybe the pharaoh would know how to get rid of the last of his darkness. But it had been Yuugi he had spent the night talking to. Yuugi who had reassured him. Yuugi who had made the pain bearable.

Yuugi who was choosing his fate.

He narrowed his eyes, then suddenly lunged forward, snatching his jacket off the back of the couch. "I _won't _accept that," he said angrily, and clambered over the couch to the entrance hall.

* * *

There was a long stretch of silence after Jounouchi opened the door. Malik blinked twice, then realised he still had his hood up and yanked it down around his shoulders. Jounouchi continued to frown at him defensively, and Malik sighed.

He knew he looked different, with five years growth, his hair streaked and eyeliner washed off with the rain, but this was ridiculous. Who else but him wore a long purple cloak outside of a costume? "Jounouch-kun, it's me," he said, but he barely even heard himself over the thunder, so he raised his voice to a near-shout. "Jounouchi! Remember me? Malik Ishtahl!"

There was another pause, before Jounouchi gasped and jumped back, ushering him into the house. With the doors and windows of the game shop shattered (again), Malik had just walked straight through and taken a chance on the button by the door. Luckily, his hunch had been right and it was a doorbell, but it was still cold and wet in the wrecked store.

"Malik, what're you doing here?" cried Jounouchi, standing out of the way as Malik pulled off his sopping cloak. "Hell, what are you even doing in Japan?"

"Ahh, the pharaoh, and Big Sister's being…" He shook his head in irritation, laying his cloak over the coat hanger and then starting to unbutton his jacket. "Let's just say I'm not really here, but actually babysitting the pharaoh to make sure he doesn't do anything more than sulk."

"Right, so you guys are here to… fix everything?" asked Jounouchi, and Malik grimaced.

"Big Sister and Rishid are here to finish the ceremonies and send Pharaoh back to the afterlife, but I'm here to talk some sense into Yuugi-kun," he said, and unceremoniously dumped his jacket on the floor. "Honestly… Giving up the pharaoh again, how stupid would you have to be…"

"Yeah, I figured that when I woke up and Yami was gone," he said, then jerked his thumb up the stairs. "I'd be careful, though. Yuugi cracked the cigarettes, and because he knows he shouldn't, he's touchier than usual."

"I don't plan to be here long," said Malik, starting up the stairs. "Up here?"

"Second door on your right," he said, and Malik waved his thanks before hurrying upward. He found the door fine, and it was locked, but Malik had not been the head of a wannabe-mob group for nothing. With a simple credit card he made quick work of the lock, opening the door with a flick of his wrist to find Yuugi sitting on his bed, cigarette in one hand and a pen in the other, bent over a large stack of files. His face was dirty from tears, and he had made a mess of gelling his hair down.

"What are you doing?" asked Malik, as Yuugi stared at him. "Yuugi-kun, you look like hell."

"I'm working, and… thanks?" He straightened up, setting down his pen. "Malik-kun, I wasn't… when did you… What happened to your hair?"

He ran a self-conscious hand over the streaked locks, but otherwise ignored that. "Yuugi-kun… what do you think you're doing? You can get the pharaoh back. You can be whole – you can be happy!" He set a hand on his hip, staring at him. "Are you really going to give that all up just so the world doesn't have to deal with _his _magic?"

Yuugi sat back, putting his cigarette to his lips with a would-be calm expression. "Yes."

"_Why_?"

"Because I have to," he said firmly. "Of all people, I would have thought you'd understand that."

"Of all people, I'm the last one who would understand that," he shot back, and Yuugi hesitated before nodding his unwilling agreement. Malik frowned. "Who cares about duty, Yuugi-kun, this is your life and soul we're talking about!"

"I didn't hear you objecting five years ago."

"I was young and stupid and… stupid back then," said Malik, walking over to sit on the end of the bed. "You don't honestly believe this bullshit about saving the world."

"Of course I do! Look out the window, Malik-kun!" cried Yuugi, waving his cigarette at the rain-battered window. "I know that's dark power, and we both know where it's coming from!"

"He's upset! He needs you, Yuugi-kun!"

"Then he shouldn't be here!" he shouted, thumping his fist into his knee. "He never should have been brought back! When you brought him back, you put the world at stake for one small man! He's just going to get worse, and there is nothing to stop him really harming the world before he goes!"

"Then fuck the world!" cried Malik, staring at him. "Yuugi-kun, not everything revolves around the pharaoh! Whether he's dead or not, there is always going to be darkness! As long as there are humans to hate and love, there is going to be darkness! And there are always going to be people that mess with magic – including _dark _magic."

"And other people will take care of them," insisted Yuugi.

"They might not! And you – you'll be half a soul, depressed and pathetic for as long as it takes for you to give up and die," snapped Malik, and he swallowed hard when Yuugi didn't even blink at the implication. "Yuugi-kun, I understand that you locked the pharaoh away, and said it was for the sake of the world, but it's not enough. I thought you saved the world back then, too, but –"

Yuugi lowered his eyes, and Malik sighed, leaning over the files to touch his knee. "Yuugi-kun, take it from someone who's been on all sides of darkness," he said softly. "Eventually, someone will mess with magic, and it will get out of control. If you seal the pharaoh away, then there will be no one that is capable of understanding that power, let alone controlling it."

There was a long pause, and Yuugi slowly raised his eyes to meet Malik's gaze. He smiled weakly, squeezing Yuugi's knee. "I know, it's dangerous, and it'll bring the strongest darkness back, but as long as the pharaoh is there, and you—the one chosen to control him—are there…"

Yuugi bit his lip, raising his cigarette but not letting it touch his lips. "Ishizu-san said –"

"She was wrong. She often is, you know," he added lightly, and Yuugi frowned at him. He just smiled, pushing himself to his feet. "That's all I had to say. But think fast, okay? You're right, eventually the pharaoh's going to seriously hurt something if he's not calmed down or sent back early, so Big Sister is probably going to send him to the afterlife by about noon tomorrow."

He started toward the door, but Yuugi spoke before he could even touch the door handle. "Malik-kun… you just said that no matter what I do, the world is screwed. And the shadows will be stronger if I don't do what I am."

"They will," he agreed, opening the door. "But the world needs a saviour, Yuugi-kun. And without the pharaoh… I'm just not sure if you're really enough."

He frowned at him, but Malik just shrugged and closed the door behind himself, leaving Yuugi to stare after him until long after he was gone.

* * *

He had managed to keep his mind off Yami all night, ignoring the pounding rain and the tears that occasional fell down his cheeks by throwing himself into the new budget Mokuba had designed. It was big, it was complicated, and Yuugi needed to have it simplified to a blue-collar worker's perspective by next Thursday.

He had fallen asleep on top of it, but when he woke early the next morning, and got up to wash his face, he found his previously maths-imbued mind suddenly wiped blank. He frowned, staring at his reflection and wondering what was wrong with it.

"The world is a scapegoat," a memory whispered in his ear, a long forgotten ghost appearing over his shoulder for a moment. "Everyone uses it so they don't have to deal with their own personal issues. I doubt Kaiba really cares about controlling the world, but his life was always so dramatic that running a global empire probably keeps him stable."

Yuugi closed his eyes, shaking the memory away, but when he opened them again there was a new figure in the mirror. Jounouchi frowned at him from the doorway. "Morning, Yuugi."

"Jounouch-kun," he said, glancing back at him. "You're up early."

"Yeah, I was worried about…" He cut off as Yuugi turned back to the mirror. He bit his lip, stepping into the bathroom. "Yuugi, you know… I get why you're doing this, and all… I just… I wonder if it's really the right thing."

Yuugi nodded, meeting Jounouchi's gaze through the reflection. "Everyone seems to."

"Yeah… I mean, it's just… you were different, while he was here. I never really noticed before, but…" He swallowed, shifting his gaze to look at Yuugi directly. "Now I'm kinda worried about you."

"I'm okay," he said softly, even as he once again wondered what was wrong with his reflection.

Jounouchi was quiet a moment, then shoved his hands in his pockets. "Mokuba called. Said the flood warning meant work had to be cancelled for the day. Even my cruise is off 'til further notice…"

Yuugi just nodded, and slowly pushed away from the sink and past him, back toward his room.

* * *

The mixture was clearly made from some kind of green mould, watered down and mixed with herbs and a few substances Yami tried not to think about as Ishizu slowly coated him in it. He was trying to concentrate on keeping himself cold and aloof; fighting to get his emotions under enough control that the distant thunder would stop cracking across the sky.

"Do I have to be covered in this?" he asked irritably, as Ishizu lifted his arm to sponge his side.

"Well, we could cut your throat and coat you in your own blood," Malik offered, but when Yami looked up at him his eyes were still on the doorway. They had come down to the room that had once held the Duel tablets, but now held a collection of mock-up mummies. Only moments after arriving, Malik had hefted himself up onto one of the glass display cases and begun staring at the stairway out, waiting for something. "But you don't actually have enough of it at the moment."

Yami took a deep breath, forcing himself to continue staring straight ahead. "I see."

"My apologies, my pharaoh," murmured Ishizu, as she shifted to his other side. "But as you are not truly alive, have already lost the ceremonial duel, and are too far away from the door to the dead, this is necessary. It will not take much longer."

Malik looked up as a shadow slipped down the stairs, but slumped again as he realised it was Rishid. His foster brother walked over to stand beside him, and Malik leaned over to whisper, "What is it?"

He just pursed his lips, and the two men turned back to watch Ishizu finish coating Yami's torso and step back to meet his gaze. He managed to hold it for only five seconds before his eyes dropped to the floor, narrowed against his own emotions. "Shit…"

Ishizu hesitated, then sighed and turned to pick a simple glass cup off the glass case of a nearby mummy. It was filled with an innocuous black liquid, and Ishizu furrowed her brow as she gave it to Yami. "Drink this."

He nodded silently, not trusting himself to speak, and snatched the glass away from her, swallowing it in two disgusted gulps. He coughed afterward, but managed enough self-control to just hand the glass back rather than smash it the way he wanted.

She stepped close, laying a soft hand against his cheek in a gesture more motherly than anyone would have thought possible. "I truly am sorry…" she whispered, "… Atemu…"

At his name, the mixture on his chest began to glow, and a strong wind picked up around their feet. Malik clenched his fists in frustration but could only watch as the wind blew faster, rising up around the chamber and creating a small whirlwind in the very centre of the room. After a few moments, it turned the dark, inky black of the liquid, and Yami felt his shoulders slump.

"This is it," he breathed, gazing into the darkness. "I can't believe it… what was it all for…?"

Ishizu shifted as something brushed against her senses, and she glanced back at the staircase. A small shadow was hovering near the bottom step, just out of sight.

Yami closed his eyes, then looked up at Ishizu with a sad smile. "Ah, well… I got that one last chance to be with him, didn't I?"

She made a small, reluctant noise, and Malik frowned, turning his head to follow her gaze, then jerked off his perch when he saw what she had been looking at. "Yuugi-kun!"

They all spun around, and Yuugi flinched back up the stairwell, his eyes wide and frightened as he met Yami's gaze. "I… I…"

"Aibou…?"

"I…" He swallowed hard, and slowly stepped down into the chamber. He was soaking wet – he had obviously fought the storm to get there. "I… wanted…."

The whirlwind roared as the others all stared at Yuugi, and Yami shook his head, slowly walking over to stand in front of him. They just gazed at each other for a moment, before Yami reached out, cupping Yuugi's cheek and pulling him close to meet him in a soft kiss.

The first of Yuugi's tears slid down over Yami's thumb, and when he pulled away Yuugi fell against his chest, uncaring of the mixture that now covered them both as he latched his arms around Yami's torso. Yami just accepted the weight, holding him tight and burying his face in Yuugi's hair. "It's alright… I understand."

Ishizu covered her mouth with her hand, blinking rapidly, and Malik looked away, folding his arms in helpless frustration. He glared at Rishid, knowing full well that he must have seen Yuugi come in, and yet didn't say anything until it was too late. The spell had already begun, there was no going back now.

"I can't do this," whispered Yuugi, tightening his hold on Yami's chest. "I can't… I can't do it without you… I can't…"

"Shh," Yami took a breath, clenching his eyes shut. "You'll be fine. You're Yuugi Mutou, you can do anything."

"No… no, no…"

Ishizu hesitated, then clenched her fist and lowered it, forcing herself to do her duty. "Pharaoh… It is too late. If you do not go now, the vortex will continue to grow, and it will take everything in its path until it has you."

Yami scowled, glaring at the nothing in his direct line of sight as he held Yuugi tight against him. She was right – the wind was so strong that it was starting to suck the mixture straight from his back, his hair was pulled back from his face and struggling against the suction.

"Maybe…" Malik spun toward his sister, his hands out in desperation. "Maybe we can summon him again! A week to regain our energy, then –"

"No, he drank the potion, he is no longer a summonable spirit," said Ishizu, closing her eyes. "There is nothing we can do, little brother."

Yami hissed in another helpless breath, and Yuugi suddenly leaned away, staring up at him. "I'll go with you. If it's too late, if you have to go, I'll go with you!"

He scowled at him, irritated, but Yuugi just shook his head. "No, it's gonna happen anyway! They said, you know it! Without you, I'm just… I might as well go with you now!" he cried, ignoring the quickly forming glare in Yami's eyes. He shook his head and lunged forward again, clutching him tight. "I don't care anymore. I want to be with you, I…"

"Aibou, I'm not…" He raised his head to glare at the ceiling, before his eyes widened as an idea hit him. Part of the reason he had to leave was that he was almost a personification of dark magic. He had the power of the darkness and the most powerful gods at his disposal. He was the strongest being that ever walked the earth. "I'm not falling to some stupid wormhole."

Yuugi hesitated, then looked up at him again. "What?"

He smirked, then jerked away from him, his hands rising to grip Yuugi's face instead. "Are you with me? Do I have your strength, will you fight with me?"

"Wh- I… of course, but –" he stammered, but Yami just grinned and spun around, yanking Yuugi with him to hold him against his side. "The other me, what the hell are you –"

But Yami just raised his hand, holding it palm-out toward the whirlwind. "There's a reason a pharaoh-god is never to know his own name," he said darkly, and Yuugi furrowed his brow as Yami's smirk grew. "There's true power in my name _Atemu_!"

A wave of power exploded from Yami's palm, and the three Ishtahls were thrown off their feet, hitting the walls and display cases hard. Even Yuugi had to clutch at Yami's waist to remain standing, but the whirlwind only lessened for a moment before continuing at full strength.

"What are you doing?" he shouted, but Yami just braced his feet, stretching his arm out a little further.

"Nothing!" he replied, and Yuugi rolled his eyes. Why Yami was always at his most irritating when fighting something… The pharaoh raised his voice to a shout, "_My name is ATEMU_!"

The shock wave was enough that even Yami slid back a metre, and Yuugi was flung against the wall behind him hard enough to see stars. The whirlwind shimmered transparent for a moment, its force slipping, and Yami spun around to haul Yuugi back to his feet.

"Don't let go, I need your power now," he snapped, and Yuugi blinked at him dazedly before nodding, and held his wrists in a monkey-grip around Yami's waist.

"It's all yours," he said, leaning into Yami's side. "My power is your power, we fight together…"

"That's my aibou," he said, and gripped Yuugi's shoulders as he summoned all his power. "This is the last shot. If this doesn't work…"

"It will," Yuugi assured him. "I know you can do this."

Yami just nodded, throwing out his hand as he screamed, "_MY NAME IS **ATEMU**_!"

There was a flash of bright light, the whirlwind flaring large enough for them to all slide toward it, and Yuugi screamed as the world went black.

* * *

It was still raining when Malik staggered out onto the museum steps, peering up at the dark clouds above him. The wind and lightning were gone, leaving the weather to dry out on its own; a gentle shower to finish off the flood.

He drew his lips back in an amused frown as he watched a lone armchair go floating along the gutter.

A pained groan caught his attention, and he stepped back under cover to watch as Rishid carried a barely conscious Yuugi from the dark of the inside. "Ne… you okay, Yuugi-kun?" he asked gently, and Yuugi's head rolled around to face him.

"You told me I had until noon," he mumbled accusingly. "It was barely nine when I left my house."

"Well, I actually said we would send him back _before _noon, so…" He frowned, folding his arms uncomfortably. "I thought you would come to your senses before midnight, at least!"

"You weren't at Yami's flat," he sighed weakly, turning back into Rishid's chest. "And driving through the flood was so hard… If I had been five minutes earlier…"

"The point is you got here," he said. "You got to see him again. Isn't that enough, oh Mister World Saviour?"

Yuugi scoffed, and Malik sighed, turning back to the rain. The clouds were beginning to break above them, sunlight shining through to highlight parts of the city. The glass of Kaiba Corp. was lit up in a bright glow.

"This is what is best," said Rishid, and Malik glanced back at him. "This is the way it was meant to happen, or it should not have happened at all."

A dark scoff answered him, and they all looked around as Ishizu stepped into the light, helping a staggering figure walk. Yami glared at Rishid as Ishizu lead him over to stand beside him. "Spoken by one who did not have his magic and life force ripped out with the metaphorical jagged knife," he snapped angrily, then leaned over to peer at Yuugi. "Are you alright, aibou?"

He smiled at him weakly, trying and failing to lift a hand to him. "Don't I get a name anymore, _the other me_?"

"Not unless I do," he said, and they both chuckled. Yami quietly groaned as his muscles protested reaching out to touch Yuugi's cheek. "I'm sorry this happened… Is he going to be fine?" he asked Ishizu, glancing at her.

"It will take time to adjust to having to support a physical spiritual being, and he will need a great deal of rest," she said, but not even she could stop a glimmer of teeth as she smiled. "But in time, yes, you will both be perfectly fine."

He smiled, turning back to Yuugi. "Excellent…" he murmured, then cocked an eyebrow. "Now, a few months to get rid of the dye-job, I kill Kaiba and everything's perfect."

"Leave Seto alone," mumbled Yuugi, struggling to keep his eyes open. "And before you ask: no, I am not quitting my job."

"I'm not asking. You're going to quit."

"I'll cut down on my hours, but I am not quitting," he said, but the force was lost in his exhaustion, and Yami smirked.

"I'll prove you wrong later. In the meantime, you're in no condition to drive, so how we're going to get back to the game shop…" he said slowly, and Malik shrugged.

"I'll drive you. If we can find Yuugi's car," he added, glancing down at the flooded street. "It might have been washed away…"

"What?" asked Yuugi, his eyes snapping open, but he went ignored as Yami nodded to Malik.

"Thank you. I have a feeling you had something to do with aibou coming today."

"Which we will discuss later," Ishizu said pointedly, and Malik gaped at her.

"What? I totally saved Yuugi-kun and the pharaoh! You can't yell at me for that!"

"You interfered with fate."

"By talking sense into the world saviour, that's gotta mean something."

"I wasn't actually coming to do this," Yuugi said weakly. "It just kinda happened…"

"Shut up," he hissed, and Yami shook his head, amused.

Rishid nodded and stepped past them, out into the rain and down the street. "I shall find the car," he said, and Yami made to follow, pulling away from Ishizu only to fall against Malik.

He grinned at the opportunity and slung Yami's arm over his shoulders. "We'll talk after we get these two back with Jounouch-kun, Big Sister."

She frowned at him, but said nothing as the group headed down into the street. The rain had almost stopped, and the shafts of sunlight were becoming larger. She took a ritualistic first breath after the conflict, and sighed it out, her tension over the matter dispersing with the breath.

The armchair Malik had seen earlier slid onto the less flooded footpath, and slowly came to a stop near a wind-stripped cherry tree. Ishizu gazed at it for a moment, then lifted her gaze in time to see Yami move away from Malik and walk a few steps on his own, proud and upright.

She smiled, nodding her head once before turning and walking back into the museum to clean up.


End file.
